Island Line (MTR)

Island Line 港島綫
Causeway Bay Station
Overview
Type	Heavy rail
System	MTR
Locale	Districts: Central and Western, Wan Chai, Eastern
Termini	Kennedy Town Chai Wan
Stations	17
Ridership	947,100 daily average (weekdays, September 2014)[1]
Operation
Opened	31 May 1985
Technical
Line length	16.3 km (10.1 mi)[2]
Track gauge	1,432 mm (4 ft 8 3⁄8 in)
Electrification	1.5 kV DC
Route map Legend Reversing siding Kennedy Town HKU Sai Ying Pun Sheung Wan Tung Chung Line to Tung Chung Airport Express to AsiaWorld–​Expo Hong Kong           Pedestrian tunnel within paid area Central      Admiralty sidings Admiralty      Tsuen Wan Line to Tsuen Wan Wan Chai Crossover Causeway Bay Tin Hau Fortress Hill North Point      Quarry Bay      Tseung Kwan O Line to Po Lam or LOHAS Park Crossover Tai Koo Tai Koo siding originally leading out to seashore[3] Sai Wan Ho Shau Kei Wan Heng Fa Chuen Chai Wan Depot Crossover Chai Wan Overrun tracks

The Island Line is one of 10 lines of the MTR, the mass transit system in Hong Kong. It runs from Kennedy Town in the Central and Western District to Chai Wan in the Eastern District. The line first opened on 31 May 1985. It currently travels through 16.3 kilometres (10.1 mi)^[2] in 34 minutes along its route, serving 17 stations. The line is indicated by the colour blue on the MTR map.

History

The Hong Kong Government authorised the construction of the 13.1 km long Island Line in December 1980, after rejecting plans to extend the tram to Chai Wan.^[4] On 31 May 1985 the Island Line opened with services operating between Admiralty and Chai Wan stations in six-car trains.

On 23 May 1986, the Island Line was extended to Central Station and Sheung Wan Station. Both Admiralty and Central stations became interchange stations with the Tsuen Wan Line. As part of this extension, each train was extended to eight cars in length.

After the Kwun Tong Line was extended to Quarry Bay station through the Eastern Harbour Crossing on 1 October 1989, that station became an interchange station with the Island Line, but unlike that at Admiralty, there is no cross-platform arrangement requiring passengers to use two escalators and a long passage in between to change between the lines. In a response to the resulting congestion, the government recommended the Quarry Bay Congestion Relief Works project, and decided to expand North Point Station to include a second interchange with the Kwun Tong Line, with construction starting in July 1998.

The North Point interchange opened on 27 September 2001, and proved to be a much more efficient method of interchanging, as the new station featured cross-platform interchange, reducing the time required to interchange from five minutes at Quarry Bay station to less than one minute. On 4 August 2002, both these stations became interchange stations with the new Tseung Kwan O Line which had taken over the harbour crossing section from the Kwun Tong Line.

In 2002, the MTRC announced that it would use HK$300 million to construct the West and South Island Lines, provided that the Government would award subsidies towards the project. No sooner, in May 2002, the first proposal from the MTRC detailed a western extension of the existing Island Line towards Kennedy Town. However the plan was abruptly brought to a halt due to land reclamation obstacles on the western coast of Hong Kong Island, and the enormous cost and uncertainties concerning the Hong Kong Government's subsidies for the project. However, the current plan for the new lines to the Southern District would require parts of the Western extension in order for it to be completed. As a result, the MTR Corporation was conducting extensive surveys as well as public forums to gather opinion and suggestions concerning the alignment of the extension and location of the Sai Ying Pun, Shek Tong Tsui and Kennedy Town stations for the West Island Line.

Construction commenced on the Island Line's western extension to Kennedy Town in 2009 and on 28 December 2014, the extension opened to passenger services, providing direct heavy rail connection to the western district of Hong Kong Island for the first time. New intermediate stations at Sai Ying Pun and the University of Hong Kong also opened as part of the extension; however, construction delayed the opening of Sai Ying Pun station to 29 March 2015.

Route description

The Island Line resembles the deep-level lines of the London Underground, as most of the route and stations along the line are deep underground and consist of cylindrical tunnels. This is the result of a lack of available land, as the construction plans for the line required it to be built under major roads.

Only the segment of the line east of Shau Kei Wan has space for track expansion and thus the line emerges to the surface at Heng Fa Chuen, and then on a viaduct, which runs alongside Shing Tai Road, and which passes over Chai Wan Park and Island Eastern Corridor above ground, all the way to Chai Wan.

The route of the original underground section of the line is also served by local trams at surface level (the West Island Line extension follows its own routing). This brought concerns that the tram system might be abolished when the MTR line was to be built, but a decision to save the tramline was made in 1980; and it serves as a backup in the event of service breakdown.

Because of the depth of the line, most underground stations on this line have curved walls on the platforms, which are due to the routes' cylindrical tunnels, only with a greater diameter. Of the underground stations not bearing this feature, Tai Koo Station is itself a large tube containing both the concourse and the platform, Sai Ying Pun Station and HKU Station consists of station boxes that are themselves are also tube-like though flatter, while Shau Kei Wan, Admiralty, Central and Kennedy Town stations are built using the cut-and-cover method.

Because most stations were built under roads, most of the platforms are curved, resulting in large platform gaps. The few stations where the platforms are otherwise relatively straight are those on the West Island Line as well as North Point, Quarry Bay, Tai Koo, Heng Fa Chuen and Chai Wan.

All Island Line stations except Heng Fa Chuen and Chai Wan have their Chinese station names written in Chinese calligraphy as part of the stations' livery. A retired architect involved in the design of the Island Line explained that calligraphy are written in large fonts to alleviate the psychological effect caused by the narrow platforms and the curvature of the walls, in addition to remind passengers what this stop is.^[5] This explains why Heng Fa Chuen and Chai Wan stations do not have calligraphy forming part of its livery, as they are built above ground rather than underground. This feature is also shared amongst some newer MTR stations such as those on the Tseung Kwan O Line and Lam Tin Station on the Kwun Tong Line.

Also, due to geographical problems, the platforms of Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, Tin Hau and Sai Wan Ho are located on two different levels. This also separates the platform and concourse into two parts, so there are some passageways and long escalators on those stations to link between the platform and concourse.

Geographically accurate map of the MTR Island Line

• 
  Admiralty Station, Island Line platform
• 
  A train waiting to depart from Chai Wan Station, terminus of the Island Line
• 
  Plaque of MTR Island Line opening ceremony held at Tai Koo Station on 31 May 1985 by Sir Edward Youde, then governor of Hong Kong

Stations

The following is a list of the stations on the Island Line.

Notes

Future development

Another proposal suggests the possibility of extending the Island Line eastwards towards Siu Sai Wan Station.^[6]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Island Line (MTR).

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: MTR Hong Kong#Island Line (category)

• List of areas of Hong Kong
• North Island Line
• Siu Sai Wan Station
• Transport in Hong Kong

Notes

References

Public transportation in Eastern Pearl River Delta
Shenzhen Metro	Lines in operation  1   2   3   4   5   7   9   11  Under construction  2  (Phase III)  3  (Phase III)  4  (Phase III)  5  (Phase II)  6   8   9  (Phase II)  10  Under planning  12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20
Dongguan Rail Transit	Lines in operation  2  Under construction  2  (Phase III) Under planning  1   3   4
Hong Kong MTR	Lines in operation      Airport      Disneyland Resort      East Rail      Island      Kwun Tong      Ma On Shan      Tseung Kwan O      Tsuen Wan      Tung Chung      West Rail Under construction      South Island (East)      East West Corridor      North South Corridor Under Planning      West Rail (Extension)      Northern Link      Tung Chung (Extension)      South Island (West)      Tseung Kwan O (Extension)
Other Urban Rails/Cableways	Lines in operation Happy Line Window of the World Monorail      Light Rail Hong Kong Tramways Peak Tram Hong Kong International Airport APM Ngong Ping 360 Under construction Shenzhen Trams
Intercity Rails (PRD-RT)	Lines in operation Guangzhou–Shenzhen Dongguan–Huizhou Under construction Foshan–Dongguan Guangzhou–Dongguan–Shenzhen Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Dongguan–Huizhou
Transportation Hubs	Airport Hong Kong (Chek Lap Kok) Shenzhen Bao'an Huizhou Pingtan Railway stations Shenzhen Shenzhenbei Shenzhendong Shenzhenxi Shenzhen Pingshan Futian Guangmingcheng Hung Hom (Kowloon) West Kowloon Changping Dongguandong Humen Huizhou Huizhounan Ferry Central Ferry Piers Macau Ferry Terminal China Ferry Terminal Tuen Mun Ferry Pier Skypier Kai Tak Cruise Terminal Shekou Passenger Terminal Shenzhen Prince Bay (Shekou)
China transit: JJJ Beijing Tianjin YRD Shanghai Jiangsu Zhejiang PRD West North East Chengyu Chongqing Chengdu Wuhan Dalian