Admiralty Station (MTR)

Admiralty 金鐘
MTR rapid transit station
Platform 2
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	金鐘
Simplified Chinese	金钟
Literal meaning	Golden Bell
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jīnzhōng Yue: Cantonese Jyutping gam1 zung1 Yale Romanization gam1 jung1
General information
Location	Drake Street/Tamar Street, Admiralty Central and Western District, Hong Kong
Coordinates	22°16′44″N 114°09′53″E / 22.2788°N 114.1646°E / 22.2788; 114.1646Coordinates: 22°16′44″N 114°09′53″E / 22.2788°N 114.1646°E / 22.2788; 114.1646
Owned by	MTR Corporation
Operated by	MTR Corporation
Line(s)	Tsuen Wan Line      Island Line
Platforms	4 (island platforms)
Connections	Bus, public light bus, tram
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Platform levels	2
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	ADM
History
Opened	12 February 1980 (1980-02-12) (Kwun Tong Line) 31 May 1985 (1985-05-31) (Island Line) 2016 (South Island Line (East) 2021 (North South Corridor)
Services
Preceding station   MTR   Following station Central Terminus Tsuen Wan Line Tsim Sha Tsui towards Tsuen Wan Central towards Kennedy Town Island Line Wan Chai towards Chai Wan   Future   Terminus South Island Line (East) Ocean Park towards South Horizons North South Corridor of Sha Tin to Central Link Exhibition towards Lo Wu or Lok Ma Chau
Location
Admiralty Location within the MTR system

The interchange concourse is wide enough for a very large number of passengers to change trains at the same time

Livery of the Admiralty MTR Station.

Admiralty station is an MTR station located on Hong Kong Island, in an area often referred to as Admiralty. The station's livery is blue. The station connects the Tsuen Wan Line with the Island Line in cross-platform interchange type. Before the opening of the Tsuen Wan branch line in 1982, it was part of the Kwun Tong Line.

The station is named after HMS Tamar (a place of land now known as the Tamar site), once the headquarters of the Royal Navy in Hong Kong - this, even though HMS Tamar had never actually been the Admiralty. It was built on the former site of the Hong Kong naval dockyards, which was built in 1878 and demolished in the 1970s.

Currently the station is undergoing major expansion for accommodating 2 more metro lines, North South Corridor and South Island Line (East). This will make Admiralty station the first railway hub in Hong Kong providing access to 4 metro services in one single structure.

Development

The Government had given the MTR Corporation first refusal on the 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m²) site, which was subsequently sold to it in 1976 for around HK$200 million for cash and equity consideration.^[1]

The Admiralty Centre, United Centre and Queensway Plaza formed part of development, and sit directly above the station.

Usage

As the primary interchange station for most Tsuen Wan Line and the Island Line riders, Admiralty is heavily congested during rush hours. Currently, Admiralty and North Point are the only cross-platform interchange stations between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island lines in the entire MTR system. Despite trains departing at capacity (every 2.1 minutes), commuters frequently have to board the second or even the third train when interchanging. The situation has deteriorated following fare cuts due to the MTR-KCRC merger.^[2]

2004 arson attack

On 5 January 2004, 14 passengers suffered minor injuries when a delusional 55-year-old man ignited a bottle of paint thinner in an Admiralty-bound train from Tsim Sha Tsui. The driver decided to complete the journey and passengers were evacuated from the train in Admiralty.^[3] To date it is the only arson attempt in MTR's history.

Future development

The North South Corridor of the Sha Tin to Central Link project and the South Island Line (East) are under development, completing in 2021 and 2017 respectively. The former will allow commuters from the northeast New Territories direct interchange from the East Rail Line, whereas the latter, terminating at Admiralty, will give residents in the Southern District much quicker access to the central business district. A new underground interchange concourse with natural light will be built to the east of the current concourse, taking up one level, allowing passengers to transfer to the new lines, conveniently. The Sha Tin to Central Link will be one level under the interchange concourse, with the South Island Line being directly below it. Exits E1 and E2 are being rebuilt into one eye-catching exit to accommodate the glass roof of the interchange concourse. There will also be a little rooftop garden in the new Admiralty Station. The opening date of the South Island Line was pushed back by the end of 2016 or the beginning of 2017 due to technical problems underneath the deep tunnel on Harcourt Garden.

Timetable

Station layout

There are very wide passageways between the two platforms on each floor; they are also curved platforms with opposite directions. The platforms are in the shape of a trapezium. Because all the platforms are curved and it is a major interchange station, there are large stickers in front of the screen doors with "Mind the gap" text, which can only be found in this station.

Passengers travelling from Eastern District and Wan Chai District can walk across to platform 1 to board the Tsuen Wan Line trains bound for West Kowloon, Kwai Chung and Tsuen Wan. Passengers travelling from West Kowloon, Kwai Chung and Tsuen Wan can walk across to platform 3 to board the Island line trains bound for Chai Wan in Eastern District.

^[5]

Entrances and exits

Admiralty is part of the Central Business District of Hong Kong Island. There are many office buildings around the station. A major shopping mall, Pacific Place, is accessed through a pedestrian walkway from Exit F.^[6]

• A: Admiralty Centre
• B: Bus to Ocean Park, Peak Tramways
• C1: Queensway Plaza
• C2: Taxi stand
• D: United Centre
• F: Pacific Place

Transport connections

There is a bus terminus stretching across the length of Admiralty that can be reached from exits B, C2 and D. These buses connect to many different parts of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories.

Bus routes

• Bus
  • KMB, serving only cross-harbour routes on Hong Kong Island
  • First Bus
  • Citybus
  • Bus terminuses within walking distance of the station:
    • Admiralty (West) - Exit B
    • Admiralty (Tamar Street) - Exit B
    • Admiralty (Drake St) - Exit C2
    • Admiralty (East) - Exit D
    • Admiralty (Rodney St) - between Exits E1 and E2

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Admiralty Station.