This article is about the metro station of the Hong Kong MTR. For the future metro station of the Singapore MRT with the same provisional name, see Prince Edward Road MRT station.
As Prince Edward was primarily designed as a cross-platform interchange between the Kwun Tong and Tsuen Wan lines, although the Kwun Tong line tracks had already been built in 1979, the station was not used until the opening of the Tsuen Wan line on 10 May 1982. During the first week of operation, the station served only as an interchange with no exits to the concourse or street level. On 17 May 1982, all the station's exits were opened.
On the evening of 31 August 2019, amid the anti-extradition bill protests, the Hong Kong Police stormed Prince Edward station and were filmed beating passengers and firing pepper spray inside railway carriages.[1] The MTR closed the station during the incident, while the police refused to let medics enter.[2] The station subsequently became a flashpoint for continued discord, with protesters petitioning MTR to release CCTV footage from the evening of 31 August.[3] The incident at Prince Edward, as well as MTR's perceived kowtowing to Beijing (by closing stations near protests in the aftermath of criticism by Chinese state media for remaining operational), led to vandalism of other MTR stations. MTR condemned the vandalism and responded that the relevant CCTV footage would be kept for three years.[4]
Location
Prince Edward station and Mong Kok station are the two closest stations in Hong Kong. They are only 400 m (1,300 ft) apart, trains take less than one minute to travel from one station to the other.
Prince Edward is an opposite-directional cross-platform interchange station for the southbound Kwun Tong line passengers going towards Tsuen Wan line and the southbound Tsuen Wan line passengers going towards Tiu Keng Leng. Mong Kok serves as the cross-platform interchange station for passengers travelling in the same direction.[5]
Livery
The station's colour is light purple because of its association as a regal colour.[6]
Entrances and exits
All exits are within one block of Nathan Road, stretching from Prince Edward Road in the south to Playing Field Road in the north.[7] Prince Edward station is primarily an interchange rather than a destination since there are only seven exits; the neighbouring Mong Kok has fifteen.[8]