The West Island Line has always been a part of the Hong Kong Island Line in the subway project. As early as1960s, the British Hong Kong government appointed Fei Erman, Fox, Wilbur Smith and others to study the future development of traffic in Hong Kong. 1September 1967, it was proposed that Hong Kong should build an underground mass transit urban rail transit system (underground railway system), including the prototype of Hong Kong Island Line. Apart from the existing Sheung Wan Market to Chai Wan, the stations on the Hong Kong Island Line also include three stations: Sai Ying Pun, Qu Di and Kennedy Town.
More alignment suggestions are published in 1970 General Report on Public Transport Planning. At that time, the section from Kennedy Town to North Point was always included in the fifth phase of the project, while the section from North Point to Chai Wan Pier was included in the later stage of the project. In 1976, the consultant also published the Study on Hong Kong's Comprehensive Transportation, in which the feasible construction method of the Hong Kong Island Line was implemented, mainly by constructing the section from Kennedy Town to North Point, and considering replacing the Hong Kong tram with the Hong Kong Island Line as the main means of transportation on Hong Kong Island. However, it was not until 1980 that the Hong Kong Government officially approved the phased construction of the Central Market to Chai Wan section of the Hong Kong Island Line. However, the section from Kennedy Town to Sheung Wan Market was postponed due to the serious losses of the MTR and the aging population.
Before and after the construction of the Hong Kong Island Line, MTRC was heavily in debt, so it had to suspend the new branch line project and carry out the new branch line project until the debt was paid off. In view of this, the Hong Kong Government reserved the entrances and exits of stations along the route by using the "easement". For example, Sai Ying Pun Station is located on the ground floor of Des Voeux Road West between Dongfang Street and Chatterland Street, and the existing Hong Kong Health Medical Center and Yizhou International Plaza have reserved places; Qu Di Station is located on the ground floor of Des Voeux Road West, between Ka On Street and Hill Road, and reserved seats in Venture Plaza and Pacific Place. Kennedy town station, which is located at the junction of Belcher Street and Smerfield Road. However, the reserved location has been vacant for many years, which has caused many speculations from all walks of life, such as geology, passenger flow, ghosts and work stoppage.
The MTR Corporation did not start the west section of Hong Kong Island Line on the grounds of insufficient passenger capacity and technical difficulties in the west section of Shanghuan Station. However, according to the research of the Hong Kong West Island Line Focus Group, the western district was much more prosperous than the eastern district at that time, with granite geology starting from shek tong tsui in the west and extending to Xiwanhe in the east. Therefore, there should be no shortage of passengers and technical problems in the construction of the western section of the Hong Kong Island Line.
1990s (part of Hong Kong Island Line)
According to the Consultation Document on Railway Development 1993 published by the Transport Branch of the Hong Kong Government, it is suggested that in the long run, the Hong Kong Island Line can extend from Sheung Wan Station to Green Island Reclamation, and connect with the Western Outer Corridor (Green Island to Tuen Mun) via Qu Di Station and kennedy town station. However, the Government indicated that the construction of this railway would depend on the development of reclamation in Green Island.
Early 2000s (independence route)
In May 2000, the Government Transport Bureau (now known as the Transport and Housing Bureau) published the Railway Development Strategy 2000, which incorporated the West Island Line and the North Island Line into the extension of the Hong Kong Island Line. As the reclamation project in Green Island has been put on hold indefinitely, the double track of the West Island Line is based on Kennedy Town to Sheung Wan. In addition to Baocui Garden Station (formerly Qu Di Station) and Xiyingpan Station, it was proposed to add Des Voeux Road Station between the two stations at that time, but it was later cancelled.
In 2002, the study on the extension of Hong Kong Island Line included the West Hong Kong Island Line and the South Hong Kong Island Line.
In 2003, the subway suggested that the West Island Line should be extended to Huangzhukeng Station, and south island line (now known as south island line East) would meet with Huangzhukeng Station. Scheme A and Scheme B both propose to set up a transfer station at Sheung Wan Station to connect with the terminal of the West Hong Kong Island Line, which means that the West Hong Kong Island Line will use the medium traffic system to run three planned stations in the West District. Concern groups expressed dissatisfaction with this and criticized the West Island Line project for being "shrunk".
In February 2004, the Mid-term Review slightly revised its earlier proposal. The original section from Sai Ying Pun to Sheung Wan was changed to an extension of the Hong Kong Island Line, and the rest of the section from Sai Ying Pun to Huangzhukeng continued to be used, but it still failed to quell the dissatisfaction of concerned groups.
On May 28th, 2004, the Legislative Council Panel on Transport passed a motion suggesting that the Government temporarily shelve the planned West Island Line and South Island Line.
In 2005
In February 2005, after considering the opinions of legislators and the public on the proposal of the West Hong Kong Island Line, MTRC completed the feasibility study of phased construction and submitted the relevant phased construction plan to the government for consideration. On June 30, 2005, the government approved the MTR to build the West Island Line, which extends westward from the ring station of the existing Hong Kong Island Line, passes through Sai Ying Pun and the University of Hong Kong, and ends at Kennedy Town.
From 2005 to early 2006, MTRC conducted the first stage of public consultation on the preliminary design of the West Hong Kong Island Line. The second stage was held in early to mid-2006 to consult the public on the revised scheme of the West Island Line. MTRC predicts that the West Island Line will be completed and opened to traffic as soon as 20 14.
The location of the three stations on the West Island Line is different from that of the station at 1970: Sai Ying Pun Station: located on the ground floor from the junction of Main Street/Gaojie to the junction of Second Street/Dongbian Street in Sai Ying Pun, it is an island platform with four exits (Des Voeux Road West, Xihu Lane Recreation Ground, Main Street Cooked Food Center and Dai Linzhi Rehabilitation Center). The latest proposal will require the demolition of some old buildings in West Lake, such as the main street cooked food center and Dai Linzhi rehabilitation center. University of Hong Kong Station: Located on the ground floor near the south of the mountain road, it is designed as a one-story island platform. The platform design has taken into account the construction time of the western section of the line, which is still unclear. Therefore, in the revised scheme issued by MTRC in August, 2006, the design of reserving the location of cross-platform transfer trains for the western section of south island line is no longer considered. There are five exits (Queen's Road West, Hill Road, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road and Belcher Street). The public toilets at the junction of Queen's Road West/Qu Di Street will be demolished to make way for the station entrance. Should not be able to use the original reserved station entrance; Kennedy town station: It is located under the swimming pool in Kennedy Town. The original plan was to use the underground of Cox Street playground, but the venue was changed to protect the stone wall trees, and the swimming pool will be rebuilt in another place. The station is designed as a side platform, with five exits (Shanshi Street (upper), Shanshi Street (lower), rock hill street, Smithfield Road and Jueshi Street). After the relocation of the swimming pool, it will be possible to develop the superstructure. Italics indicate that the relevant exits will be connected by high-speed elevators.
Compared with scheme 1970, the route has also moved southward. MTRC claims that its purpose is to reduce the nuisance caused by the project to the residents in this area, but it is speculated that the actual reason is that MTRC wants to serve the residents in the Mid-levels at the same time.
In 2006
According to the final decision submitted by MTRC on August 30, 2006, compared with the 2005 plan, the main points are as follows: instead of developing the kennedy town station roof in the original Kennedy Town swimming pool, it is suggested to add the Qilingli exit at Sai Panying Station, a development property of Jiahui Road Police Dormitory, and cancel the Shanshi Street exit at HKU Station. The reserved entrance and exit position of HKU Station was changed to island platform design, and cross-platform transfer arrangement was no longer reserved in the west section of south island line in 2008.
According to the final version of the EIA report of the West Hong Kong Island Line submitted by MTR Corporation on June 5438+1October, 2008, there will be 6 station entrances and exits (A 1, A2, B 1, B2, B3, C) in Xiyingpan Station and 5 station entrances and exits (A, B/KLOC) in HKU Station. B, c) and the kennedy town station U-turn Tunnel with public transport interchange are located in the southwest of Block A of Kennedy Town Police Dormitory. The temporary underground explosive depot will be located in victoria road near Mount Moxing in 2009.
In March 2009, the government formally approved the West Hong Kong Island Line scheme in accordance with the Railways Ordinance. On 26 May of the same year, the Executive Council approved the funding arrangement for the West Hong Kong Island Line project.
The Executive Committee approves the financial arrangements.
2007123 October 65438+ The Executive Council approved the financial arrangement of the West Hong Kong Island Line and approved the MTR Corporation to build, own and operate the West Hong Kong Island Line by means of ownership financing.
After the merger of the two railways, Hong Kong Railway Company Limited started construction on August 10, 2009, and it is expected to be completed and put into operation no later than October14. The cost of the West Island Line is about HK$ 654.38+05.4 billion, of which HK$ 654.38+02.7 billion will be subsidized by the government.
The Finance Committee of the Legislative Council has approved funding for the construction of the West Hong Kong Island Line.
On July 3, 2009, the government applied to the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council for a grant of 654.38+02.25 billion yuan to support the construction of the MTR West Island Line, and the Finance Committee finally approved the grant. The West Island Line started construction on August, 2009 10.
20 14
On February 28th, 20 14, 14 West Island Line was partially opened to traffic.
20 15
Sai Ying Pan Station was opened on March 29th, 20 15.