Former Wanchai Ferry Pier [c.1930-1968]

Submitted by tngan on Mon, 01/14/2013 - 15:44
Current condition
Demolished / No longer exists
Date completed
(Day, Month, & Year are approximate.)
Date closed / demolished
(Day & Month are approximate.)

Location is approximate. This was the old pier seen in some old photos when Gloucester Road was the water front.

Photos that show this Place

Comments

Wikipedia states that this pier (first generation) operated from 1949-1968. 

Update: 1929-1968.

(c)   The construction of two public piers in reinforced concrete, one of these piers is situated at the end of Fenwick Road, and is, built T shaped, it projects a distance of 41 feet 4 inches from the sea wall cope and provides at its outer face a berth of similar length; the other pier is 120 feet 8 inches long and 35 feet 4 inches wide with four flights of landing steps and situated at the end of Tonnochy Road.

So the start of operations was probably as early as 1929.

There is a wiki entry which essentially confirms most of the facts here at gwulo

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Wan_Chai_Pier

excerpt follows

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 First generation (1929 to 1968)

At the end of the Wan Chai reclamation from 1922 to 1929 (Praya East Reclamation Scheme), a pier "120 feet 8 inches long and 35 feet 4 inches wide with four flights of landing steps and situated at the end of Tonnochy Road"[1] was built. Probably this pier was damaged in the second World War and had to be repaired. The ferry services between the Wan Chai Pier and Jordan Road, Kowloon was in operation as early as 12 November 1949.[2] Because the ferry line mainly catered to passengers on the Hong Kong Island to the east of Wan Chai, the China Motor Bus company rerouted its bus route no. 2 so that it passed near the Wan Chai Pier. At the same time the bus company started the auxiliary bus route no. 8. The Wan Chai Pier was not where it is today. It was located on Gloucester Road, near Tonnochy Road. The bus route no. 8 then and the route no. 11, which entered service later, both had stops on Tonnochy Road.

On 1 June 1956, the Stewart Pier commenced operation and the ferry service to Jordan Road was rerouted to this pier. On 3 July 1956, a new ferry line to Kowloon City started operation at the Tonnochy Road Pier. This ferry line was terminated on 24 June 1967.

On 12 November 1963, the ferry service between Hung Hom and Wan Chai commenced operation.
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Second generation (1968 to 2014)

From 1965 to 1972, Wan Chai underwent more land reclamation. The coastline moved north from Gloucester Road to today's Convention Avenue and Hung Hing Road.

In April 1988, the Jordan Road <-> Wan Chai ferry line was terminated and replaced by the new line between Tsim Sha Tsui and Wan Chai.

On 1 April 2011, the Hung Hom <-> Wan Chai line was terminated. The Wan Chai<->Tsim Sha Tsui line has since been the only remaining ferry service at the Wan Chai Pier.
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Third generation (since 2014)

As the site of the second generation pier is included in the reclamation area of the Central–Wan Chai Bypass project, the government decided to terminate and demolish the 46-year-old second generation Wan Chai Pier,[3][4] and build a new pier at the current coast to the north. The Star Ferry Company that has been operating the Wan Chai<->Tsim Sha Tsui ferry line objected to the demolition in 2007.[5]

The new pier commenced operation on 30 August 2014.[6] It has an area of about 2,200 sq m, about 150 sq m less than the previous pier. The facilities are more or less the same as the Central Star Ferry Pier (Piers no. 7 & 8). The second floor of the new pier will be used for food and catering.[7]

However, the second floor reserved for food and catering will have to wait at least half a year to have electricity connection after the pier's operation commenced. Passengers questioned that the new walkway to the new pier was too narrow and insufficient for the passenger flow during peak hours. The Civil Engineering and Development Department replied that the new passenger walkway was designed to accommodate the passenger flow generated by the current ferry line.[8]

The public pier at Tonnochy Road would have had its origins after the completion of the Praya East Reclamation.

Mention is made here in the Hong Kong Sunday Herald dated 21 May 1950 of the roofless Tonnochy Road Ferry Pier and the inauguraion of the ferry service to Jordan Road on 12 November 1949. A proposed service from Western District to Sham Shui Po is also mentioned in the article.

1957 tonnochy-hennessey junction looking north.

One can see the Tonnochy dance hall on the right between Lockhart road and Jaffe road.

From 1949 to 1956, the Tonnochy pier hosted the Wanchai-Yau Ma Ti line.

In 1956, the new Stewart pier took over the Wanchai-Yau Ma Ti line. Tonnochy pier  hosted the Kowloon city line instead. In 1963, it expanded its service to Hung Hom until its demolition in 1968.

In this picture, the sign read like "往九龍城小輪 or ferry to Kowloon city" .

1957 tonnochy-hennessey junction
1957 tonnochy-hennessey junction, by simtang

Looking in the opposite direction or looking south from Gloucester rd

1950s gloucester-tonnochy
1950s gloucester-tonnochy, by simtang

This info sheet contains operation hours (first and last services) , prices, locations of piers for various ferry lines. It was probably 1962. It has the Stewart rd Wanchai to Jordan line which opened in 1956 and the Tonnochy rd Wanchai to Kowloon city line which also opened the same year. The Tonnochy rd Wanchai to Hung hom line being absent indicates it was before 1963.  Left side is for Wala Wala. Right side for both Star Ferry and HYF.

It says for both companies, first class is 20 cents. Third class and children 10 cents.

1962 info sheet ferry schedule
1962 info sheet ferry schedule, by simtang