East Tsim Sha Tsui station

East Tsim Sha Tsui () is a station of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system of Hong Kong. It is currently an intermediate station on the .

The station was built to alleviate surface traffic jams and passenger congestion at Kowloon Tong station. The distance from to the station is about one kilometre with the journey time of around two minutes.

This station is linked with Tsim Sha Tsui station of the by subways (underground pedestrian tunnels).

History

The predecessor of the East Rail line was the Kowloon–Canton Railway (British Section), which was opened in 1910. At the time of opening, its southern terminus was the located in Tsim Sha Tsui, where the Clock Tower stands today. However, the old Kowloon station was closed in 1975, and the southern terminus of the railway was relocated to the newly built Hung Hom station.

An early predecessor to the present East Tsim Sha Tsui station, named Mariner in the East Kowloon line 1970 scheme, was intended to provide interchange to of the Kong Kow line (now part of ).

Plans for East Tsim Sha Tsui were subsequently revived in 1993 when the plans for East Kowloon line were modified to become a medium-capacity system as part of an Eastern Corridor with transfer to the Lantau Airport Railway (now and ). The contract to construct East Tsim Sha Tsui was subsequently awarded to a consortium consisting of Hong Kong-based Gammon Construction and Japan-based Nishimatsu.

East Tsim Sha Tsui was opened on 24 October 2004 as a southward extension of the KCR East Rail from , symbolising the return of the railway to the Tsim Sha Tsui area after 30 years. It served as the southern terminus of the East Rail line until 16 August 2009. As a result of its underground location, the station was equipped with full-height platform screen doors, of the same type used on the KCR West Rail, which opened the year prior. The station was the only one on the East Rail line with these doors for five years, and as a result, the 12-car-long set of screen doors were the longest in the world.

The status of the East Tsim Sha Tsui station as the southern terminus of the East Rail line was intended to be a temporary arrangement only. Upon the opening of the MTR Kowloon Southern Link on 16 August 2009, the East Rail line's southern terminus became Hung Hom again (albeit only temporary until the expected opening of Sha Tin to Central Link in 2022), and the tracks between Hung Hom and East Tsim Sha Tsui became part of the . As a result, Hung Hom became the common southern terminus of (and provided cross-platform interchange between) the East Rail line and the West Rail line, whilst East Tsim Sha Tsui became an intermediate station on the West Rail line. Due to the shorter length of the Tuen Ma line trains (8 cars), the ends of the platforms were taken out of use and closed off.

On 27 June 2021, the officially merged with the (which was already extended into the ''Tuen Ma line Phase 1'' at the time) in East Kowloon to form the new , as part of the Shatin to Central link project. Hence, East Tsim Sha Tsui was included in the project and is now an intermediate station on the Tuen Ma line.

Station layout

Passengers heading towards the Tsuen Wan line ride the escalator up to the concourse and leave the Tuen Ma line system. Then they walk along the Middle Road or Mody Road subway system respectively to reach Tsim Sha Tsui station at exits L2 and M3, respectively.

Although the stations are connected by subway, the fare gates for East Tsim Sha Tsui and Tsim Sha Tsui stations are separated. Single journey ticket passengers transferring from the Tuen Ma line to the Tsuen Wan line must purchase a second ticket at Tsim Sha Tsui station as the ticket is withdrawn once the passengers exit through the turnstiles at East Tsim Sha Tsui station. In contrast, Octopus card users who transfer between East Tsim Sha Tsui and Tsim Sha Tsui stations within thirty minutes without making any other transport related purchases or more than nine non-transport related purchases in between stations are considered to have taken a single journey and are charged accordingly. Also, MTR City Saver users who transfer between East Tsim Sha Tsui and Tsim Sha Tsui stations within thirty minutes are considered to have taken a single journey and are charged accordingly.

Entrances/exits

East Tsim Sha Tsui station is linked with Tsim Sha Tsui station through the Mody Road and Middle Road subways. When both stations' exits are combined, the total number of exits outnumber even that of Central. Tsim Sha Tsui station has the exit with the highest letter of all rail stations in Hong Kong.

There's no exits I or O because of the confusion with 1 and 0 respectively.

In Tsim Sha Tsui station

* A1: Kowloon Park
* A2: Humphreys Avenue
* B1: Nathan Road
* B2: Cameron Road
* C1: Nathan Road
* C2: Peking Road
* D1: Nathan Road
* D2: Carnarvon Road
* E: Kowloon Hotel
* H: iSQUARE
* R: iSQUARE

In East Tsim Sha Tsui station

* J: Victoria Dockside
* K: Middle Road
* L1: Hermes House
* L3: Peninsula Hotel
* L4: Kowloon Hotel
* L5: Peking Road
* L6: Salisbury Road
* N1: Mody Road
* N2: Hanoi Road
* N3: K11 Art Mall
* N4: K11 Art Mall
* N5: Nathan Road
* P1: Wing On Plaza
* P2: Tsim Sha Tsui East
* P3: Chatham Road South

File:East Tsim Sha Tsui Station Exit J 202008.jpg, Exit J in August 2020
File:MTR ETS (50).JPG, Exit L3 in December 2009
File:Exit L5 East Tsim Sha Tsui Station 20210206.jpg, Exit L5 in February 2021
File:ETST-KCR-P1.jpg, Exit P1 in December 2006 (before the MTR–KCR merger)
File:MTR ETS (55).JPG, Exit P1 in June 2010

References

External links

Station map

{{Tuen Ma line navbox

MTR stations in Kowloon
West Rail line
Tuen Ma line
Tsim Sha Tsui East
Tsim Sha Tsui
Former Kowloon–Canton Railway stations
Railway stations in Hong Kong opened in 2004
2004 establishments in Hong Kong