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Kowloon (KCR)
Encyclopedia
Tsim Sha Tsui
Tsim Sha Tsui , often abbreviated as TST, is an urbanized area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is administratively part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed from the Hung Hom Bay now east of Tsim Sha Tsui...
on the present site of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Hong Kong Cultural Centre
The Hong Kong Cultural Centre is a multipurpose performance facility in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of Hong Kong. Located at Salisbury Road, it was founded by the former Urban Council and, after 2000, is administered by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of Hong Kong Government...
, was the former southern terminus of the Kowloon-Canton Railway
Kowloon-Canton Railway
The Kowloon–Canton Railway refers to a railway network in Hong Kong which is now combined with the MTR railway system, comprising rapid transit services, a light rail system and feeder bus routes within Hong Kong, and intercity passenger and freight train services to the rest of China...
(KCR).
The first Kowloon station was a temporary structure built near the Post Office on Salisbury Road
Salisbury Road, Hong Kong
Salisbury Road is a major road in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It runs parallel to Victoria Harbour, starting from its western end at the Star Ferry Pier, passing by Blackhead Point, to Tsim Sha Tsui East...
in 1909 and served until the permanent station was completed in 1910. Regular service began at the second station on 1 October 1910. The building consisted of a two storey L shaped terminal building with a clock tower. On the north end of the station was a covered walkway which lead to a two covered elevated platforms. A mile north of the station is a freight station.
After its relocation to Hung Hom
Hung Hom
Hung Hom is an area of Kowloon, in Hong Kong, administratively part of the Kowloon City District, with a portion west of the railway in the Yau Tsim Mong District. Hung Hom serves mainly residential purposes though is mixed with some industrial buildings in the north.-Geography:Hung Hom is located...
(also replacing the old Hung Hum station) in 1974, and until the late 1990s, "Kowloon" had been the name of present-day Hung Hom Station, the new southern terminus of the KCR, the railway which was renamed East Rail Line in the late 1990s.
Relocation
Owing to lacking of space for expansion, the southern terminus of the railway was moved from Tsim Sha TsuiTsim Sha Tsui
Tsim Sha Tsui , often abbreviated as TST, is an urbanized area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is administratively part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed from the Hung Hom Bay now east of Tsim Sha Tsui...
to a new station of the same name on the new reclaimed land
Land reclamation in Hong Kong
Land is in short supply in Hong Kong, and land reclamation has been conducted there since the mid-19th century.-Projects:One of the earliest and famous project was the Praya Reclamation Scheme, which added 50 to of land in 1890 during the second phase of construction...
from Hung Hom Bay
Hung Hom Bay
Hung Hom Bay is a bay of Victoria Harbour, between Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong.Since 1850, the bay has been reclaimed many times: by 1996, it had nearly disappeared. All of present-day Tsim Sha Tsui East and Hung Hom Station of the MTR are on land reclaimed from the...
in 1974. The Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Hong Kong Cultural Centre
The Hong Kong Cultural Centre is a multipurpose performance facility in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of Hong Kong. Located at Salisbury Road, it was founded by the former Urban Council and, after 2000, is administered by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of Hong Kong Government...
was constructed on the site.
The new Kowloon Station was renamed to its present name, Hung Hom, in late 1990s.
Preservation campaign
Chief Secretary
The Chief Secretary is the title of a senior civil servant in members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and, historically, in the British Empire. Prior to the dissolution of the colonies, the Chief Secretary was the second most important official in a colony of the British Empire after the...
in 1970; the Tsim Sha Tsui Neighbourhood and Welfare Association also wrote to the Colonial Secretary in 1975, and again in May 1977.
A petition was mounted by the Heritage Society, and sent to the then Governor
Governor of Hong Kong
The Governor of Hong Kong was the head of the government of Hong Kong during British rule from 1843 to 1997. The governor's roles were defined in the Hong Kong Letters Patent and Royal Instructions...
, Murray MacLehose on 29 July 1977. The Government rejected the petition, and its request for an independent inquiry into the draft area development plan. It argued that a new cultural complex would assume the role enjoyed by the building, and that the plans for a new cultural complex to be erected on the site were too far advanced to be altered. The Heritage society charged that the Government was engaged in dirty tricks, and was misleading the public.
The Heritage Society escalated lobbying effort, and petitioned Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
with a file containing some 15,000 signatures in February 1978, hoping for royal intervention. Within 48 hours of the Royal decision, the demolition crew had already moved in.
Clock Tower
The Clock Tower is the only part of the old station in Tsim Sha Tsui remains at its own site. Six pillars of the station building were moved to the Urban Council Centenary GardenUrban Council Centenary Garden
The Urban Council Centenary Garden is a public park in Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It was named to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the establishment of the Urban Council....
in Tsim Sha Tsui East. After decades at other locations, including the East Rail depot at Ho Tung Lau
Ho Tung Lau
Ho Tung Lau is a place northeast of Lok Lo Ha in Sha Tin, near the MTR and on the former shore of Sha Tin Hoi, in the New Territories...
, the clock tower's bell was returned to its original home in September, 2010.