Former Hung Hom station An older station of the same name once existed on
Chatham Road South. It was situated on the former coastline of
Hung Hom Bay, at the southeastern corner of the
Gun Club Hill Barracks (between the current-day Chung Sze Yuen Building A of the
Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the
Hong Kong History Museum). This
old Hung Hom station, a temporary wooden structure, operated from 1 October 1910 (the day the
Kowloon–Canton Railway began operation) until 15 September 1921 It was later demolished and replaced by this station on 30 November 1975.
Relocation of Kowloon station commemorating the opening of the station The in
Tsim Sha Tsui began operation on 28 March 1916. After decades of economic growth in Hong Kong, the station, situated at the seafront of Victoria Harbour, became too small and had no room for expansion. On 5 May 1975, Queen
Elizabeth II unveiled a plaque commemorating the opening of the new terminal. A new Kowloon station (the current Hung Hom station), situated to the east, was officially inaugurated by Chief Secretary
Denys Roberts on 24 November 1975 as the new southern terminus of the
East Rail line. However, it did not start operating until a few days later. The old terminal at Tsim Sha Tsui was closed on 29 November 1975. The first passenger train pulled out of Hung Hom the following morning at 8:26 am. The new station cost HK$150 million and offered modern new facilities including a spacious waiting hall, a restaurant, a bar, a bookstore, a bank, escalators, and closed circuit television. It was built along with a bus terminus and a multi-storey car park. a new complex of a concert hall and museums were built on Kowloon station's original site, but the
clock tower was preserved as a
Declared Monument. Through trains to mainland China started running from Hung Hom station on 4 April 1979.
Renaming and expansion The new station was renamed Hung Hom station around February or March 1996. The
KCR British Section was renamed KCR East Rail in 1996, and subsequently the upon the merger of the
MTR (metro services) and the
Kowloon-Canton Railway (suburban train services) in December 2007. However,
China Railway still referred to the station as Jiulong, which was the Mandarin pronunciation of Kowloon, until April 2019. A HK$1.3 billion expansion of Hung Hom station began on 16 March 1995, which included a new concourse designed by
Foster and Partners. The expansion was completed in 1998. The passenger terminal now hosts ticket offices, waiting areas, shops and restaurants. The construction of the East Rail extension to
East Tsim Sha Tsui station began on 20 April 2001. Work was undertaken at Hung Hom station to extend tracks 2 and 3 southward, and to demolish the southern concourse of the station and replace it with a new mid-level concourse. Some structural columns, supporting the
Hong Kong Coliseum above, had to be demolished and underpinned to make way for the construction of the tracks. Throughout the works, at least three of the four East Rail platforms had to be kept in operation. The extension was opened on 24 October 2004, turning Hung Hom into an intermediate station for the first time. On 16 August 2009, East Tsim Sha Tsui was transferred to the West Rail line following the opening of the
Kowloon Southern Link, and Hung Hom became the southbound terminus station of both the East Rail and West Rail lines. Platforms 2 and 3 were transferred to the West Rail line and served as the line's eastern terminus. Meanwhile, Platforms 1 and 4 became the termination platform of the East Rail line with arriving trains alternating between the two platforms. As part of the
Sha Tin to Central Link project, two new island platforms were constructed under the eastern side of the existing station podium. The West Rail line was relocated to its new platforms on 20 June 2021, a week ahead of the full opening of the Tuen Ma line. Temporary walkways were placed across the original West Rail line tracks, now defunct, to connect the East Rail line's platforms. On 27 June 2021, the West Rail line was absorbed into the Tuen Ma line. The moved to the new underground platforms beneath the Tuen Ma line platforms on 15 May 2022, upon the opening of the line's extension to . The last train departed from the old platforms at 00:28 on 15 May 2022, and the original East Rail, West Rail line and through train platforms were permanently closed to passengers thereafter. Hung Hom is now an intermediate station on both the East Rail and Tuen Ma lines. On 25 October 2023, it was announced that the MTR Corporation would be invited by the government of Hong Kong to conduct a preliminary study and submit proposals in 2024 for the redevelopment of an approximately 10-hectare area centred on the station. In 2024, an exhibition named “Station Rail Voyage” (「站見」鐵路展 , zaam6 gin3 tit3 lou6 jin2) was held at Hung Hom station as part of the celebration events for the 45th anniversary of the MTR company, with three types of retired trains displayed at the original platforms. The exhibition was originally planned to be held from 27 April to the end of 2024, but was later extended to the end of 2025 due to a high volume of popularity. The types of trains showcased included: • Unrefurbished
Metro Cammel E44 unit (144–244–444) •
MLR train (E112-E71) •
EMD G16 locomotive no. 56 “I. B. Trevor”. •
KTT (since January 2025) == Cross-border services ==