Moving the East Rail locomotive running shed to Lo Wu

For over one hundred years the southern terminus of the Kowloon Canton Railway has been the home of Hong Kong’s railway motive power. Replacing steam with diesel power in the 1950s, relocating the terminus to Hung Hom in 1975, and the takeover by the MTR in 2007 didn’t diminish this. However the construction of the Shatin to Central Link finally did, with the locomotive running shed being relocated to Lo Wu in 2014.

MTR locomotive running shed at Lo Wu (photo by 水水, via Wikimedia Commons)
Photo by 水水, via Wikimedia Commons

The locomotive running shed at Hung Hom was located on the north side of the station, near the East Rail running lines.

Locomotive depot at Hung Hom

The Shatin to Central Link involves two new rail lines: a north-south tunnel under Victoria Harbour from Hung Hom to Admiralty station connecting to the existing East Rail line, and a east-west tunnel from Tai Wai to Hung Hom connecting to the existing West Rail line.

To make these new track connections, the tracks north of Hung Hom station have been drastically modified.

MTR East Rail train passes Shatin to Central Link works at Hung Hom station

With the locomotive running shed and freight yards having to make room for the new tracks.

Shatin to Central Link worksite beside the East Rail tracks at Hung Hom

The decision was made to move the locomotive depot to the Lo Wu freight yard, at the other end of the East Rail line, next to the border with mainland China. Work started in 2013, with the new facility opening in April 2014.

The facility at Hung Hom was then abandoned, with demolition commencing in August 2014.

More photos at Lo Wu

Liked it? Take a second to support Marcus Wong on Patreon!
Become a patron at Patreon!
This entry was posted in Transport and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *