Kwun Tong line

The Kwun Tong line is a heavy-rail rapid transit line of the MTR network in Hong Kong, coloured green on the MTR map. Starting at Whampoa in Hung Hom and ending at Tiu Keng Leng in Tseung Kwan O, Sai Kung, the route has 17 stations and takes 35 minutes to complete. The Kwun Tong line is one of the busiest railway lines on the network, connecting the central and the eastern portions of Kowloon via Wong Tai Sin. The line is mostly underground, but includes a lengthy elevated section, and runs generally in an east-west direction. During the morning rush hour, the Kwun Tong line utilises 34 trains running at 2.1-minute-intervals.

Kwun Tong line 觀塘綫
A train entering Kwun Tong station
Overview
Type	Rapid transit
System	MTR
Locale	Districts: Kowloon City, Yau Tsim Mong, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon City, Wong Tai Sin, Kwun Tong, Sai Kung
Termini	Whampoa Tiu Keng Leng
Stations	17
Ridership	604,600 daily average (weekdays, September 2014)[1]
Operation
Opened	1 October 1979 (1979-10-01)
Depot(s)	Kowloon Bay
Rolling stock	Metro Cammell EMU (DC) CNR Changchun EMU
Technical
Line length	18.4 km (11.4 mi)[2]
Track gauge	1,432 mm (4 ft 8 ^3⁄8 in) (Tiu Keng Leng to Yau Ma Tei) 1435 mm (Kwun Tong Line Extension)
Electrification	1.5 kV DC
Route map Whampoa Ho Man Tin Tuen Ma line to Tuen Mun East Rail line to Hung Hom Tsuen Wan line to Central Yau Ma Tei      Mong Kok      Prince Edward      Tsuen Wan line to Tsuen Wan Shek Kip Mei Kowloon Tong      East Rail line to Lo Wu or Lok Ma Chau Lok Fu Wong Tai Sin Tuen Ma line to Wu Kai Sha Diamond Hill      Choi Hung Kowloon Bay Depot Kowloon Bay Ngau Tau Kok Kwun Tong Lam Tin Tseung Kwan O line to North Point Yau Tong      Track connections (unused in regular service) Tiu Keng Leng      Tseung Kwan O line to Po Lam or LOHAS Park

Kwun Tong line
Traditional Chinese	觀塘綫
Simplified Chinese	观塘线
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Guāntáng xiàn Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization gūn tòhng sin Jyutping gun1 tong4 sin3

Opening in 1979 as the first urban railway line in Hong Kong and the first operated by the Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC), the Kwun Tong line operates over much of the original section of the "Modified Initial System", from Shek Kip Mei to Kwun Tong station, which it is named after. The line has seen the most changes in alignment of all the MTR lines, the most recent in 2016. It has crossed Victoria Harbour to serve Hong Kong Island using two separate routes in its history, though other lines have since taken over the harbour crossings; as such, the current route lies entirely within Kowloon except for Tiu Keng Leng in the New Territories. It has interchanges with four other lines: the Tsuen Wan line, the East Rail line, the Tuen Ma line, and the Tseung Kwan O line.

History

Initial section

The Kwun Tong line operates over the majority of the track used by the "Modified Initial System", and can so be said to be the first MTR line to enter service. It was predated only by the suburban East Rail line, which at the time was in the process of being electrified and upgraded to a commuter service as part of the Kowloon–Canton Railway. Construction was approved in November 1975 under the administration of Governor Murray MacLehose, and service commenced on 1 October 1979. The line initially ran between Shek Kip Mei station and Kwun Tong station, and each train consisted of four cars. It was extended to the south twice: firstly to Tsim Sha Tsui on 31 December 1979, and secondly to Central station on 12 February 1980 (named Chater at the time), crossing Victoria Harbour through the first underwater rail tunnel in Hong Kong and completing the original Modified Initial System plan.

When the Tsuen Wan line started service in May 1982, it took over the section of the Modified Initial System south of Argyle (present-day Mong Kok). At that point, Waterloo (present-day Yau Ma Tei) station became the terminus of the newly christened Kwun Tong line (until then, the line had no official name), and both Argyle and Prince Edward stations became cross-platform interchange stations with the new line.

Eastern extension

When the Hong Kong government decided to build a second harbour crossing in 1984, it awarded a franchise for the construction of a mixed rail and road tunnel under the harbour. Consequentially, the Kwun Tong line was extended through the new tunnel on 6 August 1989 to a new terminus at Quarry Bay, a transfer station with the newly built Island line. An intermediate station, Lam Tin, was opened on 1 October of the same year.

The first derailment in MTR history (excluding ex-KCR lines) took place at Kowloon Bay station in 1994. The seventh carriage of a train pulling into the station at about 60 km/h jumped the tracks on 28 January 1994, on a section of track adjacent to the MTR headquarters building. Nobody was injured, though train services were disrupted. The incident was blamed on a bolt in the train's suspension system which had worked itself loose, causing the weight load to be concentrated on the rear wheels of the carriage.[3]

As part of a project to reduce congestion at Quarry Bay, the Kwun Tong line was briefly extended to North Point on 27 September 2001. This station did not last as the terminus for long, as the newly built Tseung Kwan O line would take over the cross-harbour portion of the route in 2002. The Kwun Tong line was instead diverted in two phases: to Yau Tong station on 4 August 2002 and on 18 August 2002 to Tiu Keng Leng, its present eastern terminus, coinciding with the opening of the Tseung Kwan O line.

Although not in regular service, the original tunnel linking the Kwun Tong line to the Eastern Harbour Crossing continues to be maintained and can be utilised in the event of a disruption on the Tseung Kwan O line. Such an incident occurred on 16 December 2013, when a train on the Tseung Kwan O line broke down, halting train services on the entire line for several hours. To prevent cross-harbour train service from being disrupted, all Kwun Tong line trains temporarily used the old tracks from Lam Tin to Quarry Bay and terminated at North Point, as they did before the opening of the Tseung Kwan O line.[4] This was the first time since 2002 that the Lam Tin to Quarry Bay tracks were utilised for regular service.[4]

"Modified Initial System", an early form of Kwun Tong line between 1979–80 Realignment of Kwun Tong line upon the inauguration of Tseung Kwan O line.

Western extension

See also: Sha Tin to Central Link

As part of its bid for Sha Tin to Central Link (SCL) in the early 2000s, the MTR Corporation proposed an extension of the Kwun Tong line to serve the Whampoa Garden area, with an interchange at Ho Man Tin to an extended Ma On Shan line, which would provide an alternate route to the Tsuen Wan line across Victoria Harbour to Central South station. Its competitor, the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, suggested constructing an Automated People Mover between Hung Hom and Whampoa instead.[5][6]

After the MTR–KCR merger in 2007, the Hong Kong government appointed the MTRC to construct the SCL between Tai Wai and Hung Hom according to the KCRC's modified proposal, which would see the Ma On Shan and West Rail lines merged to form the Tuen Ma line, while also extending the Kwun Tong line to Whampoa as per the MTRC's own proposal. The benefits would be a better transfer arrangement at Ho Man Tin and other SCL interchange stations for services to the northeastern and northwestern New Territories. Passengers would be able to change to the North-South corridor at Hung Hom for cross-harbour services, which would terminate at Admiralty after Central South station was removed from the final plan.[7]

The 2.6-kilometre (1.6 mi) Kwun Tong line extension (abbreviated KTE; Chinese: 觀塘綫延綫; Jyutping: Gun1 Tong4 Sin3 Jin4 Sin3) from Yau Ma Tei to Whampoa via Ho Man Tin began construction on 25 July 2011[8] and opened for service on 23 October 2016.[9][10] Because of capacity limitations due to the single platform at Whampoa, half of all Whampoa-bound trains terminate at Ho Man Tin during peak hours; all trains terminate at Whampoa during off-peak hours.

Route description

The Kwun Tong line is mostly underground and runs generally east-west. It begins at Whampoa station and heads northwest, with a provisioned interchange to the Tuen Ma line at Ho Man Tin. It curves to the southwest and then north to meet the Tsuen Wan line at Yau Ma Tei. At this point, the line runs underneath Nathan Road alongside the Tsuen Wan line, with stations at Mong Kok and Prince Edward providing cross-platform interchanges.

The Kwun Tong line then splits from the Tsuen Wan line and turns to the east after Shek Kip Mei. At Kowloon Tong, there is an important, widely used interchange with the suburban East Rail line. Continuing eastwards through Wong Tai Sin, the line interchanges with the Tuen Ma line again at Diamond Hill, after which it turns south and emerges above ground after Choi Hung station. It then runs southeast 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 (although the line is completely covered at this point), where it meets with the Tseung Kwan O line. Both the Kwun Tong and Tseung Kwan O lines pass beneath the Tseung Kwan O cemetery in tunnel before entering Tseung Kwan O in an northeasterly direction at Tiu Keng Leng, where the Kwun Tong line terminates. Yau Tong and Tiu Keng Leng stations provide cross-platform interchanges in the same manner as Mong Kok and Prince Edward.

Route map

Geographically accurate map of the Kwun Tong line

Stations

The following is a list of the stations on the Kwun Tong line.

Livery and name		District	Connections	Opening date
Kwun Tong line
	Whampoa	Kowloon City		23 October 2016
	Ho Man Tin		Tuen Ma line (2021)
	Yau Ma Tei formerly Waterloo	Yau Tsim Mong	Tsuen Wan line	31 December 1979
	Mong Kok formerly Argyle		Tsuen Wan line[lower-alpha 1]
	Prince Edward		Tsuen Wan line	10 May 1982
	Shek Kip Mei	Sham Shui Po		1 October 1979
	Kowloon Tong	Kowloon City	East Rail line
	Lok Fu	Wong Tai Sin
	Wong Tai Sin
	Diamond Hill		Tuen Ma line Phase 1
	Choi Hung
		Kwun Tong
	Kowloon Bay
	Ngau Tau Kok
	Kwun Tong
	Lam Tin			1 October 1989
	Yau Tong		Tseung Kwan O line	4 August 2002
	Tiu Keng Leng	Sai Kung		18 August 2002

Notes

1. Mong Kok station is not a transfer station to Mong Kok East station (on the East Rail line), but the two stations are connected by a footbridge. Walking time is around 10–15 minutes.

Issues

Overcrowding

Kowloon Bay station Platform is overcrowding during rush hour

Most of the Kwun Tong line stations were built between late 1970 and early 1980. Platforms and concourse are relatively narrow with a few escalators. After the increase of commercial development under Energising Kowloon East project, Kowloon Bay station, Ngau Tau Kok station, Kwun Tong station have been having overcrowding issues since 2000. In accordance to Legislative Council documents, the loading of Kwun Tong line train has reached 94%, under the standard of 4 persons (standing) per square metre ("ppsm"). But in the standard of 6 ppsm, the train loading is 56%.[11] Online journalism HK01 reported that the Urban Renewal Authority has proposed MTR to expand Kwun Tong station. The Authority would voluntarily provide lands in Kwun Tong Town Centre Project which is nearby to the station, but MTR will be responsible for the expansion cost. Also, the future Environmentally Friendly Linkage System shall be built if MTR agrees to expand the existing stations.

See also

• East Rail line
• Tseung Kwan O line
• Tsuen Wan line

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. "Kwun Tong Line". Highways Department The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
3. Ball, Steve (9 February 1994). "Bolt blamed for MTR derailment". South China Morning Post.
4. Cheung Chi-fai, Clifford Lo and Stuart Lau (16 December 2013). "Thousands hit in five hours of travel chaos after MTR power blackout". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 16 December 2013.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
5. "set of presentation materials on "Report on the scheme design of Shatin to Central Link:" provided by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (Chinese version only) [CB(1)1015/03-04(01)]" (PDF). Legislative Council. KCR. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
6. "Legislative Council Panel on Transport Subcommittee on matters relating to railways" (PDF). Environment, Transport and Works Bureau. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
7. "SHATIN TO CENTRAL LINK AND MTR KWUN TONG LINE EXTENSION" (PDF). Transport and Housing Bureau. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
8. "Construction of MTR Kwun Tong Line Extension Project Commences" (PDF). MTR. 26 July 2011.(in Chinese)
9. "港鐵觀塘延線下月廿三日通車". Commercial Radio Hong Kong. 21 September 2016.
10. "MTR Kwun Tong line extension". Archived from the original on 23 February 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
11. "Capacity and Loading of MTR Trains" (PDF). Legislative Council Panel on Transport Subcommittee on Matters Relating to Railways. Retrieved 14 August 2016.

External links

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