MTR Serving as a model and its Station Names

I’ve just heard about this recently but you might know this already: some of the MTR stations had names that were different in English and Chinese. They were changed, to avoid any confusion.



Yau Ma Tei was Waterloo, because it was on the corner of Waterloo Road. Mong Kok was Argyle for a similar reason. But this caused confusion because local people did not know where Waterloo or Argyle Stations were and English speakers never heard of Yau Ma Tei or Mong Kok.
Eventually the Chinese names prevailed. Strangely, Mong Kok was originally Wong Kok in Cantonese: apparently the man hanging the sign turned the W upside down!

Some are crticizing the development of Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway System is lag far behind from the ones nearby. I find that comparatively, HK MTR has its own characteristics. For example, architecture of MTR stations is less artistic, instead focusing on structural practicability. With the high level of daily passenger traffic, facilities of the MTR stations are built with durability and accessibility in mind.

Another example is that at various stations of the MTR network, the MTRCL (took over from KCR) has set up feeder buses which enhance the convenience of taking the MTR. These bus routes, which normally consist of one to two stops, terminate at housing estates and go past major landmarks. The feeder bus routes on East Rail Line are run under the MTR name but are operated by Kowloon Motor Bus.

By clicking into its wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTR, you could find more about how this successful railway network operates.