The first Kowloon station was a temporary structure built near the Post Office on in 1909 and served until the permanent station was completed in 1910. Regular service began at the second station on the 1st October, 1910. The building consisted of a two storey L shaped terminal building with a clock tower. On the north end of the station was a covered walkway which lead to a two covered elevated platforms. A mile north of the station is a freight station.
After its relocation to Hung Hom in 1974, it had been the name of present-day Hung Hom Station, the new southern terminus of the railway, now renamed East Rail Line.
Relocation
Owing to lacking of space for expansion, the southern terminus of the railway was moved from Tsim Sha Tsui to a new station of the same name on the new from Hung Hom Bay in 1974. The Hong Kong Cultural Centre was constructed on the site.
The new Kowloon Station was renamed to its present name, , in late 1990s.
Preservation campaign
A campaign was mounted to preserve the 60-year old red brick terminus. The Kowloon Residents' Association wrote to the Colonial Secretary in 1970; the Tsim Sha Tsui Neighbourhood and Welfare Association also wrote to the Colonial Secretary in 1975, and again in May 1977. was mounted by the Heritage Society, and sent to the then , Murray MacLehose on July 29, 1977. The Government rejected the petition, and its request for an independent inquiry into the draft area development plan. and was misleading the public.
The Heritage Society escalated lobbying effort, and petitioned
with a file containing some 15,000 signatures in February 1978, hoping for royal intervention.
Clock Tower
The Clock Tower is the only part of the old station in Tsim Sha Tsui remains at its own site. Six pillars of the station building were moved to the Urban Council Centenary Garden in Tsim Sha Tsui East, and a big bell is kept at East Rail depot at Ho Tung Lau.
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