Early history Construction of the station, initially named Ma Liu Shui after the locality in which it is situated, began in January 1955. It was completed in August 1955. The opening was delayed due to the late arrival of signalling equipment ordered through the
Crown Agents. Though the
Chinese University of Hong Kong was not founded until 1963, the adjacent Chung Chi College would become part of the new university in 1963, and would form the basis of CUHK's campus. The station was given its present name on 1 January 1967. In 1983, its tracks were electrified along with the rest of the KCR East Rail . A Chinese goods wagon derailed north of the station at around 2:00 p.m. on 4 June 1988. Nobody was injured, but the derailment led to thousands being stranded at University, Tai Po Market, and Fo Tan stations, leading to an "almost hysterical scramble for road transport". At 5:00 p.m. a lorry overturned in the northbound carriageway of the
Lion Rock Tunnel. Together, the accidents caused a "great stoppage" in Kowloon and the eastern New Territories, leading to anger and fights at massive queues for taxi ranks and bus stations.
2000 expansion Originally, the station was the smallest in the system. In the early 1990s, the new town of
Ma On Shan was developed on the other side of
Tolo Harbour, and it seemed inefficient to make residents there go all the way to to catch a train. Therefore, university station was expanded at a cost of $72.4 million, becoming an important interchange between buses and minibuses from Ma On Shan and the East Rail line. Four years later, in December 2004, the
Ma On Shan rail opened to provide Ma On Shan with direct railway service. As a consequence, University station's importance to residents of Ma On Shan was strongly diminished.
New station entrance A new exit D opened at the north end of the station in 2012 to serve several newly opened teaching buildings nearby. The structure was awarded
LEED silver precertification for features such as natural daytime lighting, rainwater storage for irrigation, natural ventilation, and furniture made from recycled railway sleepers. The entrance is unusual on the MTR system in that it opens directly onto a platform rather than a concourse level, meaning that it is convenient only for those using northbound trains because there is no way to cross the tracks at that area. To access southbound trains from exit D, passengers must walk the length of the platform to cross the tracks using the exit A/B concourse. == Safety ==