Austin station (MTR) explained

Style:MTR
Austin
Native Name:柯士甸
Mlanguage:
C:柯士甸
L:Austin
J:O1si6din1
Y:Ōsihdīn
P:Kēshìdiàn
Showflag:y
Address:Wui Man Road, Jordan, Hong Kong
Borough:Yau Tsim Mong District, Kowloon
Country:Hong Kong
Coordinates:22.3046°N 114.1665°W
Connections:
Structure:Underground
Platform:2 (1 island platform)
Tracks:2
Code:AUS
Owned:KCR Corporation
Operator:MTR Corporation
Former:Ferry Point
Map Type:Hong Kong MTR#Hong Kong urban core
Map Alt:Hong Kong MTR system map
Map State:expanded

Austin is an underground MTR rapid transit station on the in Hong Kong, situated perpendicular to Wui Cheung Road and Austin Road West, and formerly adjacent to Jordan Road Ferry Pier Bus Terminus.[1]

History

Austin station was built as part of the Kowloon Southern Link project, built to connect the West Rail line and . KCR Corporation originally planned two stations along the new section of line: Austin and Canton Road stations. The latter station was cancelled due to failed negotiations with private landowners. As a result, Austin was the only new station built as part of the Kowloon Southern Link scheme. It is also the first KCR-owned station to be opened after the MTR took over operations of the KCR network.

During the planning and early construction stages, the station was called "West Kowloon station" .[2] The construction contract KDB200 (West Kowloon Station and Tunnels – Jordan Road to East Tsim Sha Tsui Station) was awarded to the Leighton-Balfour Beatty-Kumagai-John Holland Joint Venture (renamed to "Link 200 Joint Venture" on 9 August 2005) for an estimated contract sum of HK$2.018 billion. This station is part of this contract. Construction was finished in July 2009 and the station opened on 16 August that year. It was named after Austin Road as Austin

It was located adjacent to the Canton Road Government Offices until that structure was demolished in 2011.[3] An MTR residential property development, The Austin, was subsequently constructed on the site of the former government offices.

A direct connection between Austin station and the West Kowloon Terminus was opened on 23 September 2018.

A new underground pedestrian link between Austin station and Xiqu Centre, a Chinese opera house, was opened on 21 March 2021.

On 27 June 2021, the officially merged with the (which was already extended into the Tuen Ma line Phase 1 at the time) in East Kowloon to form the new, as part of the Shatin to Central link project. Hence, Austin was included in the project and is now an intermediate station on the Tuen Ma line.

Station layout

1Northern concourseExit B4, B5, footbridge to Jordan Road, Hong Kong West Kowloon railway station, Elements, Kowloon station
Southern concourseExit D4, footbridge to Hong Kong West Kowloon railway station, Staff-only area
GNorthern concourseExit B, Wui Cheung Road
Southern concourseExit D, Wui Man Road, transport interchange, taxi stand
SAustin Road West subwayExit F, subway to Austin Road, Austin Road West, Canton Road, The Victoria Towers, China Ferry Terminal
CConcourseCustomer services, MTR Shops, toilets, Exit A, C, E
Jordan Road subwaySubway to Canton Road, Jordan Road, Ferry Street
PPlatform 1 towards
Island platform, doors will open on the right
Platform 2← Tuen Ma line towards

The station has two tracks and one island platform. The surface station building is divided into two parts by Wui Cheung Road.[4]

By interchanging between and Austin stations, passengers using Octopus cards can connect to the MTR urban lines for free, immediately before or after the Airport Express journey.[5] Airport Express passengers can travel around the two stations by walking through Exit B5 of this station or using the complimentary Airport Express shuttle bus service. However, it only provides out-of-system connection to Kowloon station for passengers with gate charges.

Exits A and F are respectively connected with the pedestrian subways at the Jordan Road and the Austin Road junctions with Canton Road. But unlike cases like the subway at the Ngau Tau Kok station, the other exits of these two subways connected to Austin are not numbered.[6] [7]

Entrances/exits

Northern concourse
Southern concourse

Notes and References

  1. Web site: GAKEI.com – Jordan Road Ferry Bus Terminus 佐敦道碼頭巴士總站. gakei.com.
  2. Web site: Projects – Kowloon Southern Link. MTR Corporation Limited. 2008. 7 November 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080708081455/http://www.mtr.com.hk/eng/projects/hk_klns.html#p3 . 8 July 2008.
  3. Web site: Press release 'Kowloon Southern Link to open in third quarter 2009', 10 July 2009.
  4. Web site: EIA report index. Government of Hong Kong.
  5. Web site: West Rail Line Extension Passenger Guide . MTR.
  6. Web site: 16 January 2009 . Legislative Council Panel on Transport Subcommittee on Matters relating to Railways: Pedestrian Connectivity of Austin Station with neighbouring areas . 香港特別行政區立法會 (Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region).
  7. Web site: 8 January 2018 . ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE OF FINANCE COMMITTEE . 香港特別行政區立法會 (Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region).