The station was built as part of the Shatin to Central Link project. It topped out on 12 November 2020[3] and began service on 15 May 2022.[4][5][6] This station and the East Rail portion of Admiralty are the first KCRC-owned stations that serve Hong Kong Island. It is the first East Rail line station on Hong Kong Island for trains coming from Hung Hom.
The station was designed by Farrells. In January 2015, the MTR Corporation awarded a contract to Leighton in a joint venture with China State Construction to build the station and western approach tunnel.
The station had been built on the site of the former Harbour Road Sports Centre, Wan Chai Swimming Pool, and Wan Chai Ferry Pier Bus Terminus, which were all demolished and reprovisioned elsewhere before construction began. The swimming pool and sports centre were rebuilt on the car park site immediately to the south. The Wan Chai Ferry Pier Bus Terminus, originally located where the station was to be built, was relocated to newly reclaimed land near the new Wan Chai Ferry Pier.[7] The station groundbreaking took place on the former bus terminus site on 20 April 2015. The transport interchange has since been rebuilt on top of Exhibition Centre station as the latter was nearing completion.
There were plans to expand the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre over the MTR station. The enabling works for this topside development were included during the station construction.[8] Plans for topside convention facilities above the station had since been discontinued in the 2020 Policy Address, citing technical difficulties involved, uncertainties concerning the construction period and cost-effectiveness.[9]
Located above the station is the Exhibition Centre Station Public Transport Interchange, which serves as the terminal point of around 20 bus routes to different parts of Hong Kong. The interchange replaced the former Wan Chai Ferry Pier Bus Terminus, which was temporarily relocated to a nearby site during the station's construction.
Exhibition Centre station was first proposed in the 1994 Railway Development Strategy issued by the Hong Kong Government's Transport Branch as an interchange between the proposed North Island and South Island lines. In Railway Development Strategy 2000, Exhibition became an interchange between North Island line and Shatin to Central Link. The station was tentatively called Exhibition station, but in late 2017 was renamed to Exhibition Centre station. Its Chinese name remained the same.[10]
Discovery of WWII bombs
The bomb casing on display at Platform 1
On 27 and 31 January 2018, two American-made AN-M65 bombs, believed to have been dropped during World War II and weighing about 450 kg (990 lb) each, were discovered by workers at the construction site. Construction was suspended for bomb disposal work. Nearly 5000 people in the surrounding area were evacuated; no injuries were reported. Each operation took nearly 24 hours for preparation and disposal. One of the bombs was stripped of explosive material and put on display inside the station.[11]
^Transport and Housing Bureau (June 2016). "Progress Update of the Construction of the Shatin to Central Link (As at 31 March 2016)"(PDF). Legislative Council Panel on Transport Subcommittee on Matters Relating to Railways. p. 8. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016. To allow flexibility for the construction of convention facilities above Exhibition Station, a certain part of the enabling works for the topside development would be incorporated into the underground structure of Exhibition Station.
^"Progress Update of the Construction of the Shatin to Central Link"(PDF). Transport and Housing Bureau. November 2017. p. Annex 2. Archived(PDF) from the original on 5 April 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2017. [...]as well as the additional cost for the late handover of construction sites at Exhibition Centre Station (formerly known as Exhibition Station), the previously unbudgeted foundation works for top-side development at Exhibition Centre Station and other factors such as the shortage of labour in the construction sector. [...]
