Walk in the park? Why it takes 1 hour to get from Hong Kong’s Kai Tak stadium to TST

Sports and music fans leaving Hong Kong’s new flagship stadium will have to set aside about one hour to reach the tourism heart of Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon as access is difficult due to the many construction sites around the area, the Post has found.

That was how long it took three Post reporters to make the journey in near-ideal conditions. The route is almost certain to take longer when tens of thousands of spectators are all scrambling to get to the nearest public transport.

Questions have swirled about whether the transport arrangements for the 50,000-seat main stadium, slated to open in the first quarter of next year, will be sufficient by the time it hosts the Hong Kong Sevens and British rock group Coldplay in the spring.

The stadium is just one part of the 28-hectare (69-acre) Kai Tak Sports Park, a HK$30 billion (US$3.86 billion) multisport development that also features the 10,000-seat Kai Tak Arena, the 5,000-seat Youth Sports Ground and other infrastructure.

The park has organised a number of trial runs, including a rugby game between Hong Kong and Brazil next week at the youth ground, to test the site’s ability to handle throngs of fans.

To see how easily fans can navigate the site, the reporters took various routes on foot to reach nearby MTR stations or bus stops.