Island Line (MTR)

The Island Line (Chinese: 港島綫) is one of the 7 lines of the MTR, the mass transit system in Hong Kong. It runs from Sheung Wan in the Central and Western District to Chai Wan in the Eastern District. The line first opened in May 31, 1985. It currently travels through 14 stations in 25 minutes along its route.

The line is indicated with the colour blue on the MTR map.

History

The Hong Kong Government authorised the construction of the 13.1 km long in December 1980, after rejecting plans to extend the tram to Chai Wan. On 31 May 1985 the Island Line opened with service between Admiralty and Chai Wan stations. Both Admiralty and Central stations became interchange stations with the Tsuen Wan Line. Furthermore, each train was extended to eight cars. On 23 May of 1986, service reached Sheung Wan station.

After the Kwun Tong Line was extended to Quarry Bay station on 1 October 1989, the station became an interchange station with the Island Line. In a response to congestion at Quarry Bay station due to the popular interchange located there, 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, starting construction in September 1997.

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.

Route features

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 rather 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.

The major roads that the Island Line runs under are:
*Des Voeux Road Central (Sheung Wan and Central)
*Queensway (Admiralty)
*Hennessy Road (Wanchai and Causeway Bay)
*Causeway Road (Between Causewaybay and Tin Hau)
*King's Road (Between Tin Hau and Tai Koo)
*Shau Kei Wan Road (Sai Wan Ho and Shau Kei Wan)Only the segment of the line east of Shau Kei Wan has space for track development and thus the line emerges to the surface at Heng Fa Chuen, and then on a viaduct all the way to Chai Wan.

It's also notable that the underground section of the line (as well as the proposed extension to Kennedy Town) is also served by local trams, which brought concerns of the tram system might be abolished when the MTR line was going to be built (See Hong Kong Tramways for more information about the concern).

Because of the deepness of the line, most underground stations on this line (except Admiralty, Shau Kei Wan and Tai Koo) have curved walls at the platforms, which are usually part of 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 both Shau Kei Wan and Admiralty stations are built using cut-and-cover method.

All but two of the stations along the route have their station names written in Chinese calligraphy as part of the stations' decoration. The only stations that do not have this feature are Heng Fa Chuen and Chai Wan, which are also the only above-ground stations. This feature is also shared among some newer MTR stations (such as those on the Tseung Kwan O Line and Lam Tin Station on the Kwun Tong Line) came into use.

Island line is also one of the three MTR metro lines not crossing the Victoria Harbour (the other two are Kwun Tong Line and Disneyland Resort Line), and is the first major urban line never have done so.

A geographically accurate line graph with detailed interchanges, as of Feb 2006

Recent developments

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. Some local newspapers' titles said that the "MTR monopolises Hong Kong Island with HK$300 million!" No sooner, in May 2002, the first proposal from the MTRC detailed extensions 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 cited reasons such as the enormous cost and uncertainties concerning 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 is now 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.

According implementation options revealed by MTRC in February 2005, the Island Line will be extended to Kennedy Town, and the South Island Line (West part) to University station. This opinion suggests there would be two stations in the areas of Shek Tong Tsui and Sai Ying Pun, between Kennedy Town and Sheung Wan on the West Island Line.

As of June 30, 2005, the MTR Corporation Limited has been given approval to extend the existing Island Line to Kennedy Town, along with two intermediate stations at Sai Ying Pun and Shek Tong Tsui. The extension would be approximately 3 km long, making the Island Line the lengthiest urban line (16.1 km) and the one with the most stations (17 stations).

The Hong Kong Government has once invited MTR to extend the Island Line to Siu Sai Wan, but after an initial survey that lasted for more than a year, all the proposed routes were deemed to winding and disruptive to local residents, therefore dismissing the extension.

If the "North Island Line" is built along the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, which is tentatively scheduled to be built after 2016, the Island Line will be split in two; the section from Sheung Wan to Tin Hau will be taken over by the Tseung Kwan O Line, and the Tung Chung Line will oversee operation of the section from Fortress Hill to Chai Wan.

Stations

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

Notes

* Proposed stations

^{^} Planning in progress

Connections with the West Island Line and South Island Line project suggested by MTRCL: Note that South Island Line (West Section) corresponds to "West Island Line" run by medium capacity rail in the prelimery proposals, while "West Island Line" as of June 2005 refers to the extension of the heavy-rail Island Line to Sai Ying Pun, University and Kennedy Town.

See also

*Transportation in Hong Kong
*List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong
*Siu Sai Wan Station