Tai Koo Station 3.36

Tai Koo is a station on the Island Line of the Hong Kong MTR system. The station is located in Kornhill, Quarry Bay on Hong Kong Island and serves the area of Kornhill, including Kornhill Gardens, and Taikoo Shing. Tai Koo has a unique colour scheme; its livery is crimson. Tai Koo station is one of the busiest stations in the system.The station was named after Taikoo Shing, which was built on the former site of Taikoo Dockyard. The docks were in turn named after Swire, which the station ultimately shares a Chinese name with.HistoryThe Island Line opening ceremony was held in this station in May 1985 and was officiated by then-MTR chairman Sir Wilfrid Newton and Governor of Hong Kong Sir Edward Youde, who unveiled the commemorative plaques at the concourse level. The station is built in what was, at the time of its construction, the largest man-made cavern in Asia.Station layoutTai Koo adheres to the general layout of most MTR stations. At ground level, there are numerous alphanumerically-named entrances and exits.Platforms 1 and 2 are arranged in the simple island platform layout. Unlike most of the other underground stations on the Island Line, Tai Koo does not have separate tubes for each track and platform, but is located in a single tube encompassing both the concourse and the platform. Although it was not built in the cut and cover method, it is similar to cut and cover stations in that although there are escalators and stairs in the middle of the platform, it has an open design and the platforms are not separated. Each platform is equipped with platform screen doors for safety and ventilation reasons.