Kwun Tong Line

Kwun Tong Line 觀塘綫

A K-Train leaving Diamond Hill Station

No. of stations 15 Type Heavy rail Districts Yau Tsim Mong, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon City, Wong Tai Sin, Kwun Tong, Sai Kung Opened 1 October 1979 Voltage DC 1500 V Gauge 1432 mm

Whampoa Ho Man Tin  Sha Tin to Central Link   Tsuen Wan Line  Yau Ma Tei Mong Kok (Tsuen Wan Line) Prince Edward (Tsuen Wan Line)  Tsuen Wan Line  Shek Kip Mei Kowloon Tong  East Rail Line  Lok Fu Wong Tai Sin  Sha Tin to Central Link  Diamond Hill (Sha Tin to Central Link)  Sha Tin to Central Link  Choi Hung Kowloon Bay Depot Kowloon Bay Ngau Tau Kok Kwun Tong Lam Tin  Tseung Kwan O Line  Yau Tong (Tseung Kwan O Line) Tiu Keng Leng (Tseung Kwan O Line)  Tseung Kwan O Line

The realignment of Kwun Tong Line upon the inauguration of Tseung Kwan O Line.

The Kwun Tong Line is one of the seven lines of the MTR network in Hong Kong. It starts at Yau Ma Tei in West Kowloon and ends at Tiu Keng Leng in Tseung Kwan O, Sai Kung. It is indicated in green on the MTR map. During the morning rush hour, the Kwun Tong Line utilises 27 trains on the tracks and keeps a 2.1 minute train interval. It currently travels through 15 stations in 27 minutes along its route.

Route map

Geographically accurate map of the MTR Kwun Tong Line

History

The Kwun Tong Line was the first MTR line to enter service, and was a crucial part of the MTR "Modified Initial System". Its construction was approved in November 1975.

On 1 October 1979 service commenced on the Kwun Tong Line. The line ran between Shek Kip Mei station and Kwun Tong station, and each train consisted of four cars.

With extensions to the south, the line reached Tsim Sha Tsui on 31 December 1979, and a year later on 12 December 1980 it reached first Central station (named Chater at the time), crossing the harbour for the first time.

When the Tsuen Wan Line started service in May 1982, it took over the section of the Kwun Tong Line south of Argyle (present-day Mong Kok). Waterloo (present-day Yau Ma Tei) station became the terminus of the Kwun Tong Line and both Argyle and Prince Edward stations became interchange stations with the new line.

When the Hong Kong government decided to build a second harbour crossing in 1984 (which would be known as the Eastern Harbour Crossing), it awarded a franchise for the construction of a mixed rail and road tunnel under the harbour.
The Kwun Tong Line was the rail line using that tunnel and on 6 August 1989, it was extended over the harbour again. This time the terminus was Quarry Bay, a transfer station with the Island Line. An intermediate station, Lam Tin, was opened on 1 October of the same year.

As part of the Tseung Kwan O Line project, Kwun Tong Line was briefly extended to North Point on 27 September 2001 but soon diverted to Tiu Keng Leng when the Tseung Kwan O Line opened in August, 2002. The diversion was done in two phases: Yau Tong interchange station was opened on 4 August 2002 such that Kwun Tong Line did not cross the harbour anymore. Two weeks later (18 August 2002) the Kwun Tong Line was extended to Tiu Keng Leng when the rest of the Tseung Kwan O Line commenced service.

Route description

Kwun Tong Line is mostly underground, and runs from the west to the east. It begins at Yau Ma Tei station, and runs underneath Nathan Road parallel to the Tsuen Wan Line up to Prince Edward. The line then moves east, and splits from the Tsuen Wan Line. The line then emerges after Choi Hung station, and runs on a viaduct above Kwun Tong Road between Kowloon Bay and Lam Tin Stations.

After Lam Tin station, the line travels through a tunnel in a hill and emerges above ground level at Yau Tong Station (although the line is completely covered at this point). The line also converges with the Tseung Kwan O Line. The Kwun Tong Line travels through another tunnel beneath the Tsueng Kwan O cemetery before terminating at Tiu Keng Leng, located in Tseung Kwan O.

Stations

This is a list of all the stations on the Kwun Tong Line. The coloured boxes holding the station names represent the unique colour motif for the station.

Notes

* Proposed

¹ Yau Ma Tei Station is an unannounced interchange station. Changing trains in this station lacks the convenience of cross-platform interchange in Mong Kok station. The platforms for the Kwun Tong Line and Tsuen Wan Line in Yau Ma Tei station are on separate levels.

² Mong Kok Station is not a transfer station to the Mong Kok East Station of the East Rail Line, but the two stations are connected with a footbridge that takes 10-15 minutes.

• Full list of MTR stations

Kowloon Bay station, at platform level

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kwun Tong Line

Future development

The MTRC proposed to extend the Kwun Tong Line, from Yau Ma Tei to Whampoa Garden via Ho Man Tin. The new interchange station at Ho Man Tin will connect the Kwun Tong Line with the new Sha Tin to Central rail line.

See also

• Transport in Hong Kong
• List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong

External links

• Proposed extension to Ho Man Tin and Whampoa Garden (Adobe Systems Acrobat pdf format)

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