The Hong Kong Railway Museum

Background of the museum

The Hong Kong Railway Museum is situated in the town center of Tai Po Market. The Hong Kong Railway Museum is an open-air museum occupying some 6,500 square meters. This is the only museum in the territory dedicated to the development of Hong Kong’s Railway systems.

History of the museum

In the past, the museum was a Tai Po Market Railway station which is a station between line from Kowloon Station to the border with China.  The station was erected in 1913; the station building features the pitched roof of traditional Chinese building. When the Kowloon Canton Railway Company was modernised, the original railway station became redundant. It was declared a monument in 1984, refurbished and converted into a museum in 1985. The museum follows the early creation and development of the line from Kowloon Station to the border with China.

Inside of the museum

The inside of the museum separate into two parts which are exhibition gallery and permanent display. The exhibition gallery shows the latest happenings of the railway development in Hong Kong. Also, it shows the railway logos from different periods and profiles of future MTR extensions

For the permanent display, it shows the types of trains used and contains several complete carriages that were last in use during the 60/70′s as well as one of the engines used in the past.

Actually, the station building, which houses a historical display of photographs over the past 100 years, is quite beautiful. It has a date above the door stating its year of completion – 1913 – and has been finished off in a Chinese style complete with roof ceramics and wall frescos. It was the only station on the line to be built in this way and we expect this is why it was declared a monument.

What can you do there?

In the exhibition gallery, people can see many historic pictures of the railway in past. Also, there is an education corner inside which has some interactive display to boarden the knowledge of visitors and enhances visitor's experience of the museum. In the permanent display, visitor can explore the history of the local railway transportation. They can go inside to the coaches and experience the railway environment in the past. Besides, you can walk along the tracks which you cannot do usually!