Lam Tin is known as one of the most important transport interchange centres in Hong Kong. It is a frequently visited bus-bus and rail-bus
interchange station in East Kowloon. When the British arrived, most Lam Tin residents travelled on foot or by boat to nearby villages such as
Ma Tau Wai. Over the years, the government built roads, tunnels and railways in Lam Tin to facilitate transport between Lam Tin and other districts, making Lam Tin a bridge between different areas of Eastern Hong Kong.
Highway and road surface The first road was
Lei Yue Mun Road, which succeeded
Kwun Tong Road and ran between
Kwun Tong and
Lei Yue Mun.
Cha Kwo Ling Road was later built to tap traffic to
Cha Kwo Ling. However, the roads had insufficient capacity to effectively serve the district. Both Lei Yue Mun Road and Kwun Tong Road were widened and became segments of today's
Route 7. The first road that carried commuters into and out of Lam Tin was Kai Tin Road. It was built in the 1960s to facilitate major road transports. The construction of Kai Tin Road required the blasting of Lam Tin Hill, which attracted much attention to nearby residents. Owing to its method of construction, Kai Tin Road became a direct outlet from the hill. Built together with Kai Tin Road were Ping Tin Street, On Tin Street and Tak Tin Street, which all served Lam Tin Estate. Later Ping Tin and Tak Tin became names of new residential areas after Lam Tin Estate was demolished. In 1989,
Eastern Harbour Crossing was completed. Kwun Tong Bypass was completed in 1991. To construct an
interchange for both roads, the intersection between Lei Yue Mun Road and Kai Tin Road was rebuilt into a
flyover-
roundabout. This made Lam Tin a bridge between the Eastern Harbour Crossing and the Kwun Tong Bypass of
Route 2, with Lei Yue Mun Interchange as the exit point. In 1990,
Tseung Kwan O Tunnel was built with its southern entrance in Lam Tin, adding a convenient and direct route to
Tseung Kwan O.
Junk Bay Chinese Permanent Cemetery was built in the same year. Despite being located in Tseung Kwan O, the cemetery's only motor-enabled exit is located in Lam Tin. As a result, Lam Tin becomes crowded with people tending graves during the various festivals. The 1990 and 1992 construction of
Sceneway Garden and
Laguna City, respectively, worsened the
traffic congestion in the Lam Tin area, mainly near
Sai Tso Wan. One of the new arteries built to relieve the problem is Wai Fat Road, a four-lane
dual carriageway which serves as an interchange between Route 2 and Route 7 and an outlet from Kwun Tong Bypass to Kwun Tong Industrial Area. Pik Wan Road and Lin Tak Road were also built in 1992 to facilitate transport to newly built areas higher up Lam Tin Hill. Because it hangs off a precipice and carries only two-lanes, Lin Tak Road was surrounded by both questions of convenience and concerns about its safety. As part of the 2001 construction of
Ocean Shores in Tseung Kwan O, a segment of the former
Po Lam Road South was rebuilt and extended to meet Pik Wan Road near Kwong Tin Estate. The reconstructed road was renamed
O King Road and became the first road connection to modern
Tiu Keng Leng. Lam Tin's transport hub status was augmented by the growth of the new town of
Tseung Kwan O on the other side of
Devil's Peak and
Black Hill from Lam Tin in the 2000s and 2010s, and the subsequent construction of the
Tseung Kwan O–Lam Tin Tunnel which opened in 2022 and connected to Route 2 at the entrance to the Eastern Harbour Tunnel.
MTR Between 1979 and 1989, the
Kwun Tong line of the
MTR terminated at
Kwun Tong station. A storage
railroad depot that developed behind the station, consisting of three parallel and interchanged tracks, terminating at
Kwun Tong Law Court, eventually became part of the passenger railway after the later extension of Kwun Tong line. In 1984, the government decided to build a second railway tunnel and a second road tunnel to alleviate traffic congestion in the
Cross-Harbour Tunnel resulting in Eastern Harbour Crossing, the first railway-road tunnel in Hong Kong. The tunnel enabled Kwun Tong line's extension to
Quarry Bay, with an additional stop, Lam Tin, built in the middle. The new MTR station, opened on 8 November 1989, caused an influx of population into Lam Tin. Built at the same was
Lam Tin Bus Terminus, located on the opposite side of Lei Yue Mun Road and housing platforms for franchised buses, minibuses, taxis and cross-border buses. It is also connected to
Sceneway Plaza by staircases and escalators. Following the construction of these new facilities, Lam Tin gradually became a major transport interchange in Hong Kong. As part of the
Tseung Kwan O line project, Kwun Tong line was briefly extended to
North Point on 27 September 2001 but soon diverted to
Tiu Keng Leng when the Tseung Kwan O line opened on 18 August 2002. Now, Lam Tin is on the Kwun Tong line, the third station from the terminus station of Tiu Keng Leng at
Rennie's Mill.
Franchised buses The first
bus terminus built in Lam Tin was then called Lam Tin Bus Terminus, which is today's
Tak Tin Bus Terminus. It is built on the slope of Lam Tin Hill, in the north part of Lam Tin Estate, to serve the neighbourhood's residents. Buses ran from Kwun Tong to the bus terminus through Lei Yue Mun Road, then turned left and ascended the hill along Kai Tin Road, Ping Tin Street, On Tin Street and Tak Tin Street. Between 1989 and 1994, Lam Tin MTR station, Laguna City and Pik Wan Road were built. To serve these newly populated areas, three new bus termini were constructed: Lam Tin MTR Bus Terminus, now commonly named Lam Tin Bus Terminus as shown on the wall painting of the terminus; Laguna City Bus Terminus, which took up routes originally terminating at
Kwun Tong Ferry; and Kwong Tin Bus Terminus, with new routes initiated to serve exclusively Lam Tin and the area nearby. To disambiguate the names of the termini from one another, the original Lam Tin Bus Terminus was renamed Lam Tin (North) Bus Terminus, and "Lam Tin Bus Terminus" now usually refers to Lam Tin MTR Bus Terminus. After reconstruction of Lam Tin Estate, Lam Tin (North) Bus Terminus was surrounded by Tak Tin Estate. As a result, the terminus got a common name "Tak Tin Bus Terminus". The area near Ping Tin Street became Ping Tin Estate after the reconstruction. A space underneath the buildings was reserved for a new bus terminus. On 6 July 2003, Ping Tin Bus Terminus was opened and overtook most of the routes from Tak Tin Bus Terminus.
Surface transport Surrounded by hills, Lam Tin does not have direct access to the Victoria Harbour. However, merchant ships and ferries dock at
Kwun Tong Pier and
Lei Yue Mun Pier, which are both within 15 minutes' walk from Lam Tin, and provide surface transport for Lam Tin residents. Another reason for Lam Tin's absence of an outlet to the Harbour is the presence of an
Eastern Harbour Crossing entrance inside the district, whose buses and MTR overtook ferries for cross-harbour transport. ==Education==