Lo Wu Station

Lo Wu Station is the northern terminus of the East Rail Line (Kowloon-Canton Railway) of Hong Kong, sitting in Lo Wu within the Closed Area on Hong Kong's northern frontier. The station serves as a primary checkpoint for rail passengers between Hong Kong and mainland China and vice-versa, rather than serving a specific residential/commercial area like the other stations do. It is also the northernmost railway station in Hong Kong.

When Kowloon-Canton Railway first went into service, trains did not stop at Lo Wu, as there was no border patrol at the time. However, shortly after the People's Republic of China was created in October 1949, KCR announced that trains would terminate at Lo Wu, and that passengers would be able cross the border on foot.

Refurbishment work of the station started in 2002 and new facilities such as group waiting area and new ticket gates were introduced. Since 28 December 2004, this station also serves as the interchange station for the Shenzhen Metro Luohu station, which shares the same Chinese name.

This station is also unique to rail systems of any kind in that sliding doors limit the number of people that are allowed on the platform. Two large glass sliding doors close after about a minute elapses from the time the train pulls in for boarding. These doors are located after the area for validating at the ticket barriers, but before the platforms area. Even with this system in place, passengers may have to wait for the next train to arrive before they can travel back towards Hung Hom, as alternate trains pull into each paired platform. This layout makes use of the Spanish solution.

Entrances/exits

The station has two exits:

• A single doorway that exits out to Lo Wu village, guarded by a police officer. To use this exit one must possess a Lo Wu Resident Card or a Closed Area Entry Permit, which must be obtained at the Sheung Shui Police Station in Fanling.

• The boundary crossing checkpoint to and from Luohu on the Shenzhen side. Passengers must have valid travel documents to use this exit.

Platforms

Station layout

Platforms 1 and 4 were newly built in recent years to accommodate the increasing patronage. Before the completion of refurbishment works, trains would stop at the island platform for simultaneous alighting and boarding. The platform was always crowded during the time. The building of platform 4 and converting platform 1 (which was rarely used before the refurbishment) for boarding smoothed passenger flow. From then, trains have been emptied with doors opened towards platforms 2 and 3 and opened to platforms 1 and 4, the alighting platforms, ever since.

This particular system of loading/unloading is popular in Europe and many US subway systems and named Spanish solution.

Neighbouring stations

See also

• Lo Wu
• Luohu (Shenzhen side)
• Luohu Station (Shenzhen side)