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
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 turnback 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      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/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

Island Line
Traditional Chinese	港島綫
Simplified Chinese	港岛线
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Gǎngdǎo xiàn Yue: Cantonese Jyutping gong2 dou2 sin3 Yale Romanization góng dóu sin

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. Services were then extended to Central and 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. On 23 May 1986, the Island Line extended its reach to Sheung Wan station.

After the Kwun Tong Line was extended to Quarry Bay station on 1 October 1989, that station became an interchange station with the Island Line. In a response to passenger congestion at Quarry Bay station, 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, North Point and Quarry Bay became interchange stations with the new Tseung Kwan O 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 an extension 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. The extension would also provide direct heavy rail connection to the western district of Hong Kong Island for the first time. New stations at Sai Ying Pun and HKU formed part the extension. On 28 December 2014, the extension opened to passenger services. However, Sai Ying Pun station opened on 29 March 2015 due to construction delays.

Route description

The Island Line is the MTR line that resembles the deep-level lines of the London Underground the most, 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 Station, 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 underground section of the line is also served by local trams at surface level. 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 (except Kennedy Town, HKU, Sai Ying Pun, Admiralty, Shau Kei Wan and Tai Koo) 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, 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, and the platform gaps are large, except at Kennedy Town, HKU, Sai Ying Pun, North Point, Quarry Bay, Tai Koo, Heng Fa Chuen and Chai Wan.

All but two of the stations along the route have their Chinese station names written in Chinese calligraphy as part of the stations' livery. The only stations that do not have this feature are Heng Fa Chuen and Chai Wan, which are also the only above-ground stations. 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. 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 stations on this line (Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, Tin Hau and Sai Wan Ho) are located on two different levels. This also makes the platform and concourse separated in 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

This is a list of all the stations on the Island Line. The colored box holding the station name represents the respective color for each station.

Livery & Name		District	Connection(s)	Date opened
Island Line
	Kennedy Town	Central and Western		28 December 2014
	HKU		South Island Line (West) (under planning)
	Sai Ying Pun			29 March 2015
	Sheung Wan			23 May 1986
	Central Formerly Pedder		Tsuen Wan Line Hong Kong Station for      Tung Chung Line and      Airport Express
	Admiralty		Tsuen Wan Line      South Island Line (East)[Note 1]      North South Corridor[Note 1]	31 May 1985
	Wan Chai	Wan Chai
	Causeway Bay
	Tin Hau
	Fortress Hill	Eastern
	North Point		Tseung Kwan O Line
	Quarry Bay
	Tai Koo
	Sai Wan Ho
	Shau Kei Wan
	Heng Fa Chuen
	Chai Wan

Notes

• Full list of MTR stations

Future development

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

See also

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

Notes

1. Under construction

References

1. "Weekday patronage of MTR heavy rail network from September 1 to 27 and September 28 to October 25, 2014" (PDF). Legislative Council. 29 October 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
2. "Island Line". Highways Department The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. 14 April 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
3. The siding at Tai Koo used to lead all the way out to the seashore, in order to facilitate the moving in of rolling stock, and to connect to a temporary depot used before the one at Chai Wan was opened. Most of the tracks have been removed and the tunnel filled in for the construction of Lei King Wan.

   • http://www.thmalex.com/railway/chi/mtrtrip.html

4. Choi, Barry (24 December 1980). "Island Line gets go-ahead". South China Morning Post.
5. "地鐵書法家寫出人生安慰獎．港島線各站大字 陪伴港人20年 (lit. Life consolation prize to MTR calligrapher. Island Line calligraphy lives with Hongkonger for 20 years.)". Ming Pao. 23 October 2006.
6. "Stage 2 Public Engagement Consultation Digest" (PDF).