East rail line started from the original "Kowloon-Canton Railway" (called "Kowloon-Canton Railway" in China) and is a part of it. /kloc-At the end of 0/9, as a British colony, the trade and exchanges between Hongkong and China, especially Guangzhou, became more and more frequent. In the 25th year of Guangxu reign of Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1899), the Qing government and Britain agreed to build the Kowloon-Guangzhou Railway, but it was shelved because Britain was coping with the second Nilspol War. 1905 After the Legislative Council passed the construction of the Kowloon-Canton Railway in September, Britain resumed the construction of the Kowloon-Canton Railway in the thirty-third year of Guangxu (AD 1907). In July of the same year, the Hong Kong section of the Kowloon-Canton Railway started construction first, and the Guangdong section 1909 started construction. According to the Sino-British agreement, the hole in the middle of Luohu Bridge is divided into two parts: the Chinese part and the English part. The Hong Kong section ("Kowloon-Canton Railway-British Section") is built, managed and operated by the British side; The Shenzhen-Guangzhou section ("Kowloon-Canton Railway-Hua Section") was built, managed and operated by the Chinese side, and the Hua Section was renamed guangzhou-shenzhen railway on 1949.

The "British Section" railway in Hong Kong was opened to traffic at19101,and was managed by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Bureau. There were six stations in the initial period of opening to traffic, namely Kowloon Terminus (tsim sha tsui station), yau ma tei station, Sha Tin Station, Tai Po Station, Tai Po Market Flag Station (tai po market station) and Fanling Station. At that time, it was a single-track railway, and all stations except Kowloon Terminus (tsim sha tsui station) had two platforms. There are five tunnels along the British section, which are located in the north of yau ma tei station, Bijiashan, south of Maliushui, north of Maliushui and Tai Po Jiao. 1911010 On October 8th, China Railway was completed and opened to traffic, China Railway was connected with British Railway, Kowloon-Canton Railway was opened to traffic, and Guangzhou-Guangzhou through train service was opened.

Subsequently, more stations were built on the Kowloon-Canton Railway, such as the sheung shui station built at 1930, Maliushui Station on September 24th,1956 (called University Station on February 24th, 1966+ 165438) and so on. Maliushui section was originally built with narrow gauge, but it was all replaced with standard gauge before opening. The original narrow gauge was transported for the construction of the branch line from Fanling to Sha Tau Kok, but this branch line was stopped in April 1928 due to the sharp decrease in freight volume.

In the early days, the trains running on the Kowloon-Canton Railway were all drawn by steam locomotives. Until 1962, diesel locomotives completely replaced steam locomotives to run on the British section of the Kowloon-Canton Railway.

With the government building new towns along the railway in the1970s, the Kowloon-Canton Railway has a chance to develop again. Because the area of Kowloon Terminal (tsim sha tsui station) is too small and there is no room for development around it, KCRC moved the terminal from Tsim Sha Tsui to Hung Hom at 1975. The old station building was immediately demolished, leaving only the bell tower as a historical relic.

Followed by a series of major reforms. From 65438 to 0976, the Kowloon-Canton Railway Bureau commissioned a consultancy to study the feasibility of improving and expanding this railway. 1978 65438+ 10, the overall modernization and electrification plan of the Kowloon-Canton Railway was approved by the government. The project includes double tracks and overhead cables, and a new tunnel has been built between Kowloon and Sha Tin to replace the old Bijiashan Tunnel. Except Tai Po Kau, other tunnels along the route have been leveled to accommodate the double-track railway. At the same time, Kowloon Tong Station will be built as a transfer station connecting with the Mass Transit Railway. In order to meet the needs of modernization and electrification plan, all stations need to be rebuilt or relocated. 1982 and 1983 were all completed, and the new British tram completely replaced the original diesel locomotive, which was called the electrified train period.

In the 1960s, the government planned to build a railway in the northwest New Territories, which was handed over to the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation. All along, the Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCRC) only operates heavy railways and light rail.

1996 In order to define the existing Kowloon-Canton Railway and the future western corridor, the British section of the Kowloon-Canton Railway was renamed "Kowloon-Canton Railway" and the newly-built western corridor was named "Kowloon-Canton Railway" (now called west rail line). Besides ordinary commuting, East Rail also operates cross-border intercity through trains, connecting Hongkong with major cities in China, such as Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing. There are also several cross-border freight trains. Due to historical factors, many citizens now call the East Rail a "train". Before the merger of the two railways, some KMB destinations used the word "railway station", such as "Mong Kok Railway Station".

In 2000, the East Rail expanded several times in different degrees. In order to alleviate the congestion at Kowloon Tong Station, the only interchange station between the East Rail and the MTR, the Tsim Sha Tsui Branch of the East Rail was opened on 24 October 2004. Twenty-nine years later, East Rail returned to Tsim Sha Tsui. Tsim Sha Tsui East Station has a pedestrian subway connecting tsim sha tsui station for passengers to transfer. In the same year, 65438+February 2 1, Maanshan Railway (now called Maanshan Line) was opened. On August 15, 2007, the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line connecting sheung shui station to Lok Ma Chau Station was also opened to traffic, making it convenient for the public to use the new Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Station and Shenzhen Futian Port. At the same time, the location of the extension line is reserved for the future construction of Gudong Station.

65438+On February 2, 2007, the Kowloon-Canton Railway ended its 97-year historical mission. The Kowloon-Canton Railway and other Kowloon-Canton Railway services were formally merged with the MTR to form the MTR, and the Kowloon-Canton Railway was renamed east rail line on the same day. After the opening of the Kowloon Southern Line in 2009, east rail line once again took Hung Hom as its terminal. Passengers going to Tsim Sha Tsui East Station will transfer to west rail line, and they have to transfer at Hung Hom Station.