Island line 港島綫
Platform 2 toKennedy Town atCauseway Bay station
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	MTR Corporation
Locale	Districts:Eastern,Wan Chai,Central & Western
Termini	Chai Wan Kennedy Town
Connecting lines	East Rail line South Island line Tseung Kwan O line Tsuen Wan line Tung Chung line Airport Express
Former connections	Kwun Tong line
Stations	17
Color on map	Dark blue (#007DC5)
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	MTR
Depot(s)	Chai Wan
Rolling stock	CRRC Qingdao Sifang SFM47/47A
Ridership	947,100 daily average (weekdays, September 2014)[1]
History
Opened	31 May 1985
Last extension	28 December 2014 (Extension of Island line to Western District) 29 March 2015 (Opening ofSai Ying Pun)
Technical
Line length	14.93 km (9.28 mi)[2]
Track length	16.3 km (10.1 mi)
Number of tracks	Double-track
Track gauge	1,432 mm (4 ft 8+3⁄8 in) (Chai Wan to Sheung Wan) 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)standard gauge (West Island Line)
Electrification	1,500 V DC (Overhead line)
Operating speed	Average: 33 km/h (21 mph) Maximum: 80 km/h (50 mph)[3]
Signalling	AdvancedSelTracCBTC(future)
Train protection system	SACEM(currently being replaced)[4]
Average inter-station distance	525 m (1,722 ft)
Route map Legend Reversing siding Kennedy Town HKU Sai Ying Pun Crossover Sheung Wan Tung Chung line toTung Chung Airport Express toAsiaWorld–Expo Hong Kong         Pedestrian tunnel within paid area Central     Admiralty sidings Admiralty             East Rail line toLo Wu orLok Ma Chau South Island line toSouth Horizons Tsuen Wan line toTsuen Wan Wan Chai Crossover Causeway Bay Tin Hau Fortress Hill North Point     Quarry Bay     Tseung Kwan O line toPo Lam orLOHAS Park Crossover Tai Koo Tai Koo siding originally leading out to seashore[5] Sai Wan Ho Shau Kei Wan Heng Fa Chuen Chai Wan Depot Crossover Chai Wan Overrun tracks This diagram: view talk edit

TheIsland line (Chinese:港島綫) is one of ten lines of theMTR, themass transit system in Hong Kong. It runs fromKennedy Town in theWestern district toChai Wan in theEastern District onHong Kong Island, passing through the territory's major business districts ofCentral,Wan Chai andCauseway Bay, and connecting them with built-up areas on the north shore of the island.

The line first opened on 31 May 1985. As of 2022 it travels 16.3 kilometres (10.1 mi)^[2] in 25 minutes along its route, serving 17 stations. It is indicated inBlue on theMTR map.

The origins of the proposal for the line originated in the 1967 and 1970 studies, which originally planned to run fromKennedy Town to Chai Wan, but the route between Sheung Wan and Kennedy was omitted when the proposal was finalized during the construction.

TheHong Kong Government authorised the construction of the 13.1-kilometre-long (8.1 mi) Island line in December 1980, after rejecting plans to extend thetram eastwards to Chai Wan.^[6]

On 31 May 1985 the Island line opened with services operating betweenAdmiralty andChai Wan stations with trains in six-car configuration. The opening ceremony was held atTai Koo station and was officiated by then-MTR chairmanSir Wilfrid Newton andGovernor of Hong KongSir Edward Youde, who unveiled the commemorative plaques at the station concourse.^[7]

On 23 May 1986, the Island line was extended to Central andSheung Wan stations. Both Admiralty and Central stations became interchange stations with theTsuen Wan line. As part of this extension, each train was lengthened to eight cars.

After theKwun Tong line was extended toQuarry Bay station through theEastern Harbour Crossing on 1 October 1989, that station became an interchange station with the Island line, but unlike that at Admiralty, there is nocross-platform arrangement requiring passengers to use two escalators and a long passageway in between to change between the platforms of the lines. In a response to the resulting congestion, the government recommended theQuarry Bay Congestion Relief Works project, and decided to expandNorth Point station to include a second interchange with the Kwun Tong line, with construction starting in July 1998.

The North Point interchange opened on 27 September 2001, and proved to be a much more efficient method of interchanging, as the new station featured cross-platform interchange, reducing the time required to interchange from five minutes atQuarry Bay station to less than one minute. On 4 August 2002, both these stations became interchange stations with the newTseung Kwan O line which had taken over the harbour crossing section from the Kwun Tong line.

In 2002, the MTRC announced that it would use HK$300 million to construct the West and South Island lines, provided that the Government would award subsidies towards the project. No sooner, in May 2002, the first proposal from the MTRC detailed a western extension of the existing Island line towards Kennedy Town. However the plan was abruptly brought to a halt due toland reclamation obstacles on the western coast ofHong Kong Island, and the enormous cost and uncertainties concerning the Hong Kong Government's subsidies for the project. However, the current plan for the new lines to theSouthern District would require parts of the Western extension in order for it to be completed. As a result, the MTR Corporation was conducting extensive surveys as well as public forums to gather opinion and suggestions concerning the alignment of the extension and location of theSai Ying Pun,Shek Tong Tsui and Kennedy Town stations for theWest Island line.

Construction commenced on the Island line's western extension toKennedy Town in 2009 and on 28 December 2014, the extension opened to passenger services, providing direct heavy rail connection to the western district of Hong Kong Island for the first time. New intermediate stations atSai Ying Pun andthe University of Hong Kong also opened as part of the extension; however, construction delayed the opening of Sai Ying Pun station to 29 March 2015.

The Island line resembles the deep-level lines of theLondon Underground, as most of the route and stations along the line are deep underground and consist ofcylindrical tunnels. This is the result of a lack of available land, as the construction plans for the line required it to be built under major roads.

Only the segment of the line east ofShau Kei Wan has space for track expansion and thus the line emerges to the surface atHeng Fa Chuen, and then on aviaduct, which runs alongside Shing Tai Road, and which passes overChai Wan Park and Island Eastern Corridor above ground, all the way toChai Wan.

The route of the original underground section of the line is also served byHong Kong Tramways at surface level (theWest Island line extension follows its own routing further inland from the tramway). This brought concerns that the tram system might be abolished when the MTR line was to be built, but a decision to save the tramline was made in 1980; and it serves as a backup in the event of service breakdown and a cheaper alternative for shorter journeys.

Because of the depth of the line, most underground stations on this line have curved walls on the platforms, which are due to the route's cylindrical tunnels, only with a greaterdiameter. Of the underground stations not bearing this feature,Tai Koo station is itself a large tube containing both the concourse and the platform,Sai Ying Pun station andHKU station consists of station boxes that are themselves, also tube-like though flatter, while Shau Kei Wan,Admiralty,Central andKennedy Town stations are built using the cut-and-cover method.

Because most stations were built under roads, most of the platforms are curved, resulting in largeplatform gaps. The few stations where the platforms are otherwise relatively straight are those on the West Island line as well asNorth Point, Quarry Bay, Tai Koo, Heng Fa Chuen and Chai Wan. Also, due to geographical constraints, the platforms ofWan Chai,Causeway Bay,Tin Hau andSai Wan Ho are located on two different levels. This also separates the platform and concourse into two parts, so there are some passageways and long escalators on those stations to link between the platform and concourse.

All Island line stations except Heng Fa Chuen and Chai Wan have their Chinese station names written inChinese calligraphy as part of the stations' livery. A retired architect involved in the design of the Island line, Abe Au Kit-tong,^[8] explained that the calligraphy is written in large fonts to alleviate the psychological effect caused by the narrow platforms and the curvature of the walls, in addition to reminding passengers what the stop is.^[9] This explains why Heng Fa Chuen and Chai Wan stations do not have calligraphy forming part of their livery, as they are built above ground rather than underground. This feature is also shared amongst some newer MTR stations such as those on the Tseung Kwan O line andLam Tin station on the Kwun Tong line.

• 
  Admiralty station, Island line platform
• 
  Train approachingHeng Fa Chuen station
• 
  A train waiting to depart fromChai Wan station, terminus of the Island line
• 
  Plaque of MTR Island line opening ceremony held atTai Koo station on 31 May 1985 bySir Edward Youde, thengovernor of Hong Kong

This is a list of thestations on the Island line.

List

Livery	Station name		Images	Interchange; Adjacent transport	Opening	District
	English	Chinese
Island Line (ISL)
	Kennedy Town	堅尼地城		—	28 December 2014; 10 years ago	Central and Western
	HKU	香港大學		South Island (West)(proposed)
	Sai Ying Pun	西營盤		—	29 March 2015; 10 years ago
	Sheung Wan	上環			23 May 1986; 39 years ago
	Central[a]	中環		Tsuen Wan line Hong Kong: Tung Chung line Airport Express	12 February 1980; 45 years ago[b][c]
	Admiralty	金鐘		Tsuen Wan line South Island line East Rail line
	Wan Chai	灣仔		[d]	31 May 1985; 40 years ago	Wan Chai
	Causeway Bay	銅鑼灣		—
	Tin Hau	天后
	Fortress Hill	炮台山				Eastern
	North Point	北角		Tseung Kwan O line
	Quarry Bay	鰂魚涌
	Tai Koo	太古		—
	Sai Wan Ho	西灣河
	Shau Kei Wan	筲箕灣
	Heng Fa Chuen	杏花邨
	Chai Wan	柴灣

A proposal suggests extending the Island line eastward to terminate at a newSiu Sai Wan station.^[10]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
MTR Hong Kong#Island line (category)

• List of areas of Hong Kong
• North Island line
• Transport in Hong Kong

• Island line (MTR)
• MTR lines
• Hong Kong Island
• Railway lines opened in 1985
• 1432 mm gauge railways in Hong Kong
• 1500 V DC railway electrification

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• Articles with dead external links from June 2015
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• EngvarB from July 2014
• Use dmy dates from July 2014
• Articles containing Chinese-language text
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