Sheung Wan station

Sheung Wan is a station of the Hong Kong MTR Island Line, and was formerly the westbound terminus of the Island Line. It was originally planned in 1970 as Western Market but its construction was discontinued after further planning for the new lines. Upon the construction of the Island Line, the station was finally constructed and opened in May 1986. The livery colour of this station is khaki.

Sheung Wan 上環
MTR rapid transit station
Platform 2
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	上環
Simplified Chinese	上环
Literal meaning	Upper ring
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shànghuán Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization seung6 waan4 Jyutping soeng6 waan4
General information
Location	Des Voeux Road Central, Sheung Wan Central and Western District, Hong Kong
Coordinates	22°17′10″N 114°09′06″E
Owned by	MTR Corporation
Operated by	MTR Corporation
Line(s)	Island line
Platforms	2 (side platforms)
Connections	Bus, public light bus, tram
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Platform levels	1
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	SHW
History
Opened	23 May 1986 (1986-05-23)
Services
Preceding station MTR Following station Sai Ying Pun towards Kennedy Town Island line Central towards Chai Wan
Track layout to Central 1 2 to Sai Ying Pun
Location
Sheung Wan Location within the MTR system

History

The station was originally proposed under the name Western Market in the 1967 Hong Kong Mass Transport Study.

It was finally constructed and opened on 23 May 1986 as part of the Island Line. There is a plaque in the station concourse, laid by Financial Secretary John Henry Bremridge, commemorating the completion of the Island Line. Sheung Wan served as the western terminus of the Island Line until the extension of the line to Kennedy Town.

Station layout

G	Street level	Exits
L2	Des Voeux Road C Concourse	Customer Service, MTR Shops
		Hang Seng Bank, Vending Machines, ATM
	Rumsey Street Concourse	Customer Service, MTR Shops
		Hang Seng Bank, ATM
L3	Des Voeux Road C Concourse	Walkway to all platforms
	Rumsey Street Concourse	Alternate Platforms
L5 Platforms	Side platform, doors will open on the left
	Platform 1	→      Island line towards Chai Wan (Central) →
	Wall
	Platform 2	←      Island line towards Kennedy Town (Sai Ying Pun)
	Side platform, doors will open on the left
Source: [1]

The platforms are built under Des Voeux Road from Cleverly Street to Rumsey Street. Although platforms 1 and 2 are parallel to and directly opposite each other, there is a wall separating the two tracks giving a false impression that both platforms are separated by a long distance from each other.[1] Both platforms are slightly longer than those on other MTR underground stations. It has been suggested that this was the result of problems in calculations during the station's construction.

Rumsey Street platforms

Rumsey Station Concourse

The "phantom" platforms under Rumsey Street

The platforms of Rumsey station, originally planned as the southern terminus of the East Kowloon line, still remain in Sheung Wan station. They are located near Exit E, forming part of the passageways between the concourse and the open platforms, and they run perpendicular to the Island Line platforms below. The platforms were never completed, and have a length of about three MTR EMUs (while normal trains have eight each), roughly 60 metres long; do not have tracks nor overhead power lines; and have all tunnel entrances sealed with bricks.

In recent years, one of the proposal for the usage of the Rumsey Street platforms has been for them to be the terminus of the West Island Line (then a separate line). However, with the decision to make the West Island Line to be an extension of the Island Line, instead of a separate line, there are no more proposals to utilise the Rumsey Street platforms. Since then, the MTR Corporation has covered up the abandoned platform edges with new walls, and they are no longer visible.

Entrances and exits

Des Voeux Road Central Concourse

• A1: Des Voeux Road Central
• A2: Wing Lok Street
• B: Des Voeux Road Central (Western Market)
• C: Connaught Road Central
• D: Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal

Rumsey Street Concourse

• E1/E2: Rumsey Street
• E3/E4/E5 : Infinitus Plaza[2]

Transport connections

Hong Kong Tramways

Commuters can get out of Sheung Wan station at Exits A1, B, E1 or E3 to get to the tramways on Des Voeux Road Central, for their journey further westwards to Sai Ying Pun, Shek Tong Tsui and Kennedy Town.

Hong Kong-Macau Ferry

The Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal, located within Shun Tak Centre, provides frequent jetfoil, hydrofoil and hovercraft services to Macau and many other destinations in the Pearl River Delta. Exit D leads to the Ferry Terminal.

References

1. "Sheung Wan Station layout" (PDF). MTR Corporation. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
2. "Sheung Wan Station street map" (PDF). MTR Corporation. Retrieved 31 July 2014.