Edinburgh Place Ferry Pier - History

History

The entire waterfront where the "third generation" pier was situated was created in the late 1950s following a major land reclamation. The shoreline was shifted from its position at the time, level to the Mandarin Hotel. The pier was built in 1957 in Edinburgh Place, at the height of the Modern Movement, near the City Hall complex which was being planned at the time.

The Star Ferry Pier was designed by a local Chinese architect, Hung Yip Chan (born in 1921). He worked in the Architectural Office (AO) of the Hong Kong Government from 1952 to 1957 as an assistant architect. He designed the façade of the pier, and the Chief Architect, Michael Wright, added the Clock Tower to make the pier more balanced and practical.

The chimes of the turret clock installed at the pier marked every quarter-hour since the pier's inauguration in 1957. The clock was a gift from John Keswick, who had in turn received it from the Prince of Belgium. The mechanism was manufactured by British company Edward John Dent, which also provided the mechanical signature to "Big Ben" of London.

There is a major bus terminus on the Kowloon side, which is conveniently situated close to the Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier. Thousands of residents passed through this principal gateway to Hong Kong Island from the Kowloon Peninsula daily from 1957 until 2006. However, the inauguration of the Cross Harbour Tunnel in 1972 popularised vehicular travel across the harbour and reduced the flow of passengers. From 1972 to 2006, the ferry was still used by many as the shortest route from Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) to Central District, and a daily average of 74,000 passenger trips were made across the harbour in 2004.

On the island side, various routes of the NWFB, Citybus, and public light buses connected to many destinations on Hong Kong Island.