The Clock Tower Is all That Remains of the Kowloon Railway Station

On March 28, 1916, the Kowloon Railway Station opened in Tsim Sha Tsui. The building was designed in an Edwardian Classical Revival style and consisted of a two-story, L-shaped terminal building and a clock tower. It served as the southernmost terminus of the Kowloon-Canton Railway, or KCR (Canton being the former name of present-day Guangzhou).

However, due to a lack of space for expansion, the KCR terminus was relocated to Hung Hom in 1974. Now obsolete, the old railway station was scheduled for demolition, despite heavy opposition from various associations, which even went as far as to write a letter to Queen Elizabeth II. To no avail.

In 1978, the railway station was eventually demolished to make way for what has to be the ugliest slab of concrete in all of Hong Kong: the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. For some reason, however, the government felt the need to preserve the Clock Tower. Perhaps because they realized the architectural crime they were committing? Either way, since then, the Clock Tower has become a popular landmark in Tsim Sha Tsui and was declared a monument on July 13, 1990.

Unfortunately, the railway station it was part of is now gone for good.