Tsuen Wan Station

Tsuen Wan is the northern terminus of the MTR Tsuen Wan Line in Hong Kong. It is the only station on the line that is at ground level. It is located at the northern central part of Tsuen Wan New Town, and its next station is Tai Wo Hau.

It was the westernmost station in the MTR system until the opening of the Airport Station in 1998. It was also the northernmost station in the MTR system until the MTRCL took over the operation of the KCR network in 2007 on a 50-year lease and effectively merged the two systems.

Early history

The station was opened as part of the line opening on May 10, 1982. It is a through station with two off-side platforms, originally designed as an intermediate station, with a terminus called Tsuen Wan West further north west near the present day Tsuen King Garden apartments (different from the present West Rail Line Tsuen Wan West Station). The area around that terminus had a poor development record so it was decided no station was to be built there, though tracks were still laid to that place. This also explains why the station uses an intermediate station design (one termination platform, one to Central) unlike a normal terminus design (2 platforms to Central). This particular section of track is now used for trains to reverse back to the Tsuen Wan Depot and vice versa.

During the construction of Tsuen Wan Station, the Route Twisk was diverted. The famous Sam Tung Uk walled village was also relocated, though it was later preserved as a museum.

New roads and shopping centres were set up around the station, and a (private) housing estate was also built directly above the station. A bus interchange is also set up under one of the shopping centres.

Usage

The usage of the station was not very high when it was opened in 1982. This was because the station was actually at the northern edge of Tsuen Wan town by then, and the infrastructure was also incomplete, meaning it was unable to attract many people in the town centre to take MTR. With over 20 years of development, the area around the station gradually took over as the role of town centre. Several shopping malls are near the station, and an extensive footbridge network is also built to connect the MTR station and the surrounding area (including shopping malls, the original town centre, as well as some villages at the north). The station also acts as an important interchange in the town.

Refurbishment

The station was refubrished twice. In the early 1990s, a Chinese-styled design was introduced inside the station, but this design was completely removed after another refurbishment in 2004. Instead, more shops were set up in the station (which is the common practice of MTR station refurbishments in the 2000s), and gates were relocated to handle more passengers at one time.

Station layout

Platforms 1 and 2 are both located on ground level. However, the tracks are located right next to each other. Therefore one platform is used for boarding, and another is used for alighting. Two new exits have been built next to Platform 1, to allow passengers to leave the station without having to go up any escalators and going back down again. It is also possible to enter the station from that exit, but the passenger will have to take an escalator to the concourse, and take another down to Platform 2.

Entrances/Exits

Concourse (U1)

• A1: New Town Mall
• A2: New Town Mall
• A3/A4: Bus Terminus
• B1/B2: Fou Wah Centre
• B3:Sai Lau Kok Road
• C: Luk Yeung Sun Chuen

Tsuen Wan Line termination platform (Ground)

• D: Green Minibus Stop
• E: Sam Tung Uk Museum

Transport Connections

• → : One-way operation
• ↺ : Circular operation
• bold : Tsuen Wan Station as terminus of route

Neighbouring stations