The Tsuen Wan Line is one of the six lines of the metro network in Hong Kong known as the MTR. It is indicated in red on the MTR map.

The Tsuen Wan Line starts at Central station on Hong Kong Island and runs through western Kowloon to the southwestern New Territories, where it ends at Tsuen Wan station.

History

Plans and reality

The Tsuen Wan Line was one of the original lines of the Hong Kong Underground network, thus the initial plan was a bit different from the realised line, especially the names and the construction characteristics of the New Territories section. For example, there was a planned station further west of the present Tsuen Wan station terminus, named Tsuen Wan West which was to serve as an interchange station to the West Rail station of the same name, but located in a valley instead of under reclaimed land. Moreover, the line was supposed to run underground in Tsuen Wan, rather than the present line which was built above ground.

Construction to Tsuen Wan was approved in 1975 and commenced soon afterwards. While the main section of the line under Nathan Road in Kowloon started service in 1979, did not reach Tsuen Wan until 10 May, 1982. Curiously, all stations in the Sham Shui Po district (Sham Shui Po, Cheung Sha Wan, Lai Chi Kok and Mei Foo) opened a week later than the rest of the line.

Interestingly, at least eight stations bear different names and/or locations from the original plan. Central, Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok stations were originally named after the streets crossing or above the stations, Charter Road, Waterloo Road, and Argyle Street respectively, but the name of each station was later changed to represent the district of the station. Moreover, Mong Kok station was planned a bit further north of the present station, which would have taken the place of Price Edward station, and Sham Shui Po was planned a bit south of the present station.

Mei Foo was originally named "Lai Chi Kok"(荔枝角), and Lai Chi Kok was originally named Cheung Sha Wan, and Cheung Sha Wan was originally named "So Uk",(蘇屋) which is the name of the Ming dynasty tombs in the area of the station. Kwai Fong was originally named "Lap Sap Wan,"(垃圾灣) which means the "bay of rubbish" since the station is close to a now disused landfill, and was a bit south of the present station. Kwai Hing was originally named "Kwai Chung."

Kwai Fong, Kwai Hing, Lai Chi Kok, and Cheung Sha Wan stations gained their present names before opening, and Mei Foo was also renamed from "Lai Chi Kok" to "Lai Wan."(荔灣) The other stations had their Chinese name changed when they opened, and were renamed in 1985 together with Mei Foo station.

Recent changes

When the Tung Chung Line was constructed, it became necessary to build an interchange so that passengers did not have to go to Hong Kong Island in order to change lines. The site chosen for such an interchange was Lai King. The Tsuen Wan Line's northbound track was altered to provide cross-platform interchange with the Tung Chung Line and the new platforms were opened in 1997, nearly a year before the Tung Chung Line started service.

To cope with the extensions and new lines for the KCRC, Mei Foo station and Tsim Sha Tsui stations have new subsurface walkways added to the KCRC's Mei Foo station and Tsim Sha Tsui East stations respectively:

• The interchange facilities at Mei Foo opened in 2003, when the West Rail was opened.
• The interchange located at Tsim Sha Tsui entered service in 2004, along with the completion of East Rail extension.

Stations

This is a list of all the stations on the Tsuen Wan Line. The coloured boxes to the left of station names represent the unique colour motif for the station.

Notes:

1. Yau Ma Tei station is presented as an interchange graphically, while formal announcements en route never recommend passengers to change trains there. One probable reason is that Yau Ma Tei is the terminus of the Kwun Tong Line.
2. Tsuen Wan station is not really connected to the Tsuen Wan West West Rail station, but GMB route 95K (subsidied by KCRC) is provided between the two stations. It usually takes 15-20 minutes to go to Tsuen Wan West Station on foot.

See also

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