Hong Kong’s long-awaited new MTR station, the city’s largest, draws crowds but is it too large?

Commuters expecting better accessibility when the new Ho Man Tin MTR station opens on October 23 complained they would still face problems as they inspected facilities for the first time at an open day on Saturday.

A Mr Pang, who lives on Oi Man Estate, said: “The station is too big. I still have to spend four, five minutes to reach the platform after I arrive.”

That was on the top of the 10 minutes it took him to walk to the station from his home, he said.

Ho Man Tin station is one of the two new stations on the 2.6km Kwun Tong Line Extension. The project, originally scheduled to open in August last year, will run from Yau Ma Tei to Whampoa, the line’s new terminus, with one station in between at Ho Man Tin.

According to the MTR Corporation, Ho Man Tin station, with seven floors in total, will be the biggest in the city until Admiralty station takes its place on completion of the Sha Tin to Central Link. Ho Man Tin station will serve as an interchange when that link opens.

Pang said: “I think it will be hugely beneficial to those who always travel along the Kwun Tong Line. But it is still good on public holidays because I can avoid traffic jams.”