PolyU Transport, Facilities and the Green Campus

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) comprehensive information database · 05 Campus Module

PolyU's Hung Hom campus is often called the "most urban" university campus in Hong Kong, and the reason is transport: it sits right next to the MTR Hung Hom station and directly beside the Cross-Harbour Tunnel bus interchange, so students and staff can step off the train and into the campus almost immediately. This article follows four threads — external transport → campus facilities → green campus → other sites — to complete the facilities picture beyond what is covered in Campus Geography and Iconic Buildings and Landmarks: how to get here, what libraries/sports/sustainability facilities exist on campus, and the other campuses scattered across Hung Hom Bay, West Kowloon and Ho Man Tin.

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# 1. External Transport: Next to the Station, Next to the Tunnel, Close to the Buses

# 1.1 MTR Hung Hom Station (East Rail line / Tuen Ma line)

PolyU's main campus connects by footbridge to MTR Hung Hom station, which is served by two major routes: the East Rail line and the Tuen Ma line (per Chinese Wikipedia: Hung Hom station).

• Station history: Hung Hom station opened on 30 November 1975^※ (originally named Kowloon station); the Tuen Ma line platforms came into use in 2021^※ when the full Tuen Ma line opened (per Chinese Wikipedia).
• East Rail line cross-harbour extension (Sha Tin to Central Link Phase 2): from 15 May 2022^※, with the opening of the East Rail line's cross-harbour extension (running through the fourth cross-harbour railway to Exhibition Centre and Admiralty on Hong Kong Island), Hung Hom station became a cross-harbour railway hub (per Chinese Wikipedia: Hung Hom station and Chinese Wikipedia: Sha Tin to Central Link). This "Sha Tin–Central Link" cross-harbour section means PolyU students and staff can cross to Hong Kong Island from Hung Hom in a single ride.
• Pedestrian connection: Hung Hom station lies beside the Kowloon entrance of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, and Exit A1 with its footbridge leads directly to the PolyU campus (per Chinese Wikipedia: Hung Hom station).

# 1.2 Cross-Harbour Tunnel Bus Interchange

Between PolyU and Hung Hom station lies the Cross-Harbour Tunnel bus interchange — located outside the tunnel's Hung Hom entrance in East Tsim Sha Tsui, between PolyU and Hung Hom station, it is an open-air, two-directional bus-tunnel interchange (per Hong Kong Bus Wiki: Cross-Harbour Tunnel Toll Plaza). It was once one of the busiest bus interchanges in Hong Kong, with peak-hour footfall reaching roughly 10,000 people per hour (per the Hong Kong Bus Wiki). Numerous cross-harbour tunnel bus routes stop here, making PolyU a natural pedestrian hub in Kowloon's bus network.

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# 2. Campus Facilities

# 2.1 Pao Yue-kong Library (Block L)

PolyU's library was established on 1 August 1972^※ and officially named on 20 December 1995^※ after the late shipping magnate Sir Yue-kong Pao (per Chinese Wikipedia). According to English Wikipedia, the library is six storeys tall with around 3,900 study seats^※; as of 2024 it holds approximately 9.38 million items^※ (per English Wikipedia). The library's origin as a named landmark is covered in Iconic Buildings and Landmarks.

Note: some sources also mention the name "Pao Shui-long Library" (after the Pao family's naming); this database records the official name "Pao Yue-kong Library" where reliable sources support it, and omits the other name for now, leaving it for later completion.

# 2.2 Sports Facilities

According to English Wikipedia, the PolyU campus offers a fairly complete range of sports facilities (per English Wikipedia: PolyU):

• Two indoor sports halls: the Sir Run Run Shaw Sports Hall (VS) and the Kwok Sports Building, which house main courts usable for badminton/volleyball/basketball and fitness rooms (per Chinese Wikipedia: PolyU).
• Swimming pool: the campus has an indoor swimming pool and other facilities; per Chinese Wikipedia, Block X (2017) contains a 25-metre indoor swimming pool^※ and fitness facilities (per Chinese Wikipedia).
• Outdoor sports fields and tennis courts, plus inter-institutional sports facilities shared with other institutions (per English Wikipedia).

# 2.3 Jockey Club Auditorium

Located between Blocks S and T, the Jockey Club Auditorium, completed in February 2000^※, has two tiers of seating (stalls and circle) and seats 1,084 people^※; it is the campus's principal venue for performances and ceremonies (per Chinese and English Wikipedia; its details as a performing-arts landmark are in Iconic Buildings and Landmarks).

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# 3. Green / Sustainable Campus: The 2045 Carbon-Neutrality Roadmap

In recent years PolyU has pursued the goal of a "carbon-neutral campus", using the Hung Hom campus itself as a testbed for sustainable technologies — a system spanning "goals–governance–research–culture" as four integrated parts, not just a slogan.

• The 2045 target and three-phase milestones: per PolyU's official materials, the University has committed to achieving campus carbon neutrality by 2045^※, with carbon-reduction targets in three phases: short-term (2028), medium-term (2033) and long-term (2045) (per the PolyU Green Campus website). The HKSAR Government has pledged territory-wide carbon neutrality by 2050; PolyU's decision to set its campus target slightly earlier, at 2045, is a gesture of leadership among higher-education institutions.
• Governance: the Campus Carbon Neutrality Committee: the University established the Campus Carbon Neutrality Committee in 2022^※, whose remit includes overseeing the roadmap's implementation, recommending carbon-reduction initiatives, driving action plans with milestones, and monitoring and reporting progress — elevating carbon neutrality from "a matter for the environmental office" into a university-wide project with institutional machinery and accountability.
• Using the campus as a research testbed: the Carbon Neutrality Funding Scheme: in 2022/23 the University launched the "Carbon Neutrality Funding Scheme"; according to a PolyU publication, over HK$10 million^※ has been granted to seven projects covering green energy, smart microgrids, AI-optimised building energy management, blockchain-enabled IoT-BIM platforms and low-carbon materials (per Pulse@PolyU: Moving towards a carbon-neutral campus) — the campus is both the object of decarbonisation and the laboratory for testing decarbonisation technologies, a thread consistent with the applied orientation of PAIR, the Academy of Interdisciplinary Research.
• Green building standards: per PolyU's academic-collaboration page, the University applies the Building Environmental Assessment Method (BEAM) to all infrastructure projects, and its policy is that all infrastructure projects must achieve BEAM Plus Gold^※ (per PolyU: Constructing Green Smart Buildings).
• A green culture: GreenCoin: PolyU has launched the PolyU GreenCoin mobile-app scheme, under which students and staff earn virtual points for completing designated sustainable actions on campus, redeemable for gifts or e-coupons — turning an abstract environmental ideal into everyday habits that can be accumulated and redeemed. PolyU is also a member of the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN), exchanging ideas and collaborating with universities worldwide on sustainable-campus issues.

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# 4. Student Halls and Other Campuses

PolyU's "campus" is not confined to the main Hung Hom site; it also extends to Hung Hom Bay, Ho Man Tin, West Kowloon and elsewhere.

# 4.1 Student Halls of Residence

• Hung Hom Halls: located at 1 Hung Lai Road, Hung Hom Bay; per Chinese Wikipedia they were completed in 2002, stand 22 storeys tall and offer more than 3,000 places^※, divided into east and west wings (the Sir Gordon Wu Ying-sheung block and the Jockey Club block) (per Chinese Wikipedia and English Wikipedia: PolyU).
• Ho Man Tin Halls: located at 15 Fat Kwong Street, Lo Lung Hang; per Chinese Wikipedia they were completed in 2012 and offer 1,650 places^※, designed by P&T Group and comprising six halls plus green spaces (per Chinese Wikipedia).
• New halls under construction: per Chinese Wikipedia, PolyU is building two new student halls expected to be completed in 2028^※, at Chung Hau Street, Ho Man Tin (over 1,200 places) and Tat Hong Avenue, Kowloon Tong (over 1,600 places) respectively; English Wikipedia likewise records the two halls under construction as expected to finish in 2028^※, providing over 1,200 and over 1,600 places respectively (per Chinese and English Wikipedia).

# 4.2 Hung Hom Bay Campus and West Kowloon Campus (HKCC)

PolyU also operates a Hung Hom Bay Campus (8 Hung Lok Road, Hung Hom) and a West Kowloon Campus (9 Hoi Ting Road, Yau Ma Tei), primarily for continuing and professional education (per PolyU website: Campus Development).

• Hong Kong Community College (HKCC): per English Wikipedia, Hong Kong Community College was founded in 2001^※ with the support of PolyU, as a self-financing post-secondary institution under the College of Professional and Continuing Education (CPCE); its programmes are taught mainly at PolyU's Hung Hom Bay and West Kowloon campuses, which together have over 57,000 square metres^※ of floor area, with lecture theatres, classrooms, a library, computer centres, sky gardens, restaurants and other facilities (per English Wikipedia: HKCC and PolyU HKCC website: College Overview). HKCC offers associate degree and higher diploma programmes (for academic affiliations see Miscellaneous: Further Study and Affiliated Bodies).

# 4.3 Hung Hom Bay / West Kowloon Campus Redevelopment

Per the PolyU website's Campus Development page, since 2022 the Hung Hom Bay Campus has undergone major renovation in phases: upon completion, the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Business will move into the Hung Hom Bay Campus, while the College of Professional and Continuing Education facilities currently housed there will all relocate to the West Kowloon Campus; the West Kowloon Campus is also being renovated in tandem, with additional classrooms, laboratories and design studios (per PolyU website: Campus Development). According to that page, the Faculty of Humanities' offices moved into the 5th floor of the Hung Hom Bay Campus in 2023, with its departments following into floors 6–9 from 2025 onward (per the PolyU website: Campus Development). The aim of this redevelopment is to convert the Hung Hom Bay Campus into a hub for research and development.

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# 5. On-Campus Dining and Commercial Facilities

The main Hung Hom campus offers numerous dining and commercial facilities serving more than 20,000 students and staff:

# Dining

• Student Canteen: on the ground floor of Block B, the largest canteen on campus, offering low-priced student meals;
• Hung Hom Hall Canteen: serving residents of the Hung Hom Halls, managed by the Catering Facilities Office;
• PJ Coffee @ PolyU: an on-campus café offering coffee, light meals and drinks;
• Several fast-food chain outlets and takeaway stalls: spread around Blocks A and V.

# Commercial Services

• PolyU Bookstore: sells textbooks, stationery and souvenirs;
• ATM / banking services: ATMs are available on campus, and the major banks can be found in the nearby shopping area of Hung Hom station;
• Postal services: Hongkong Post letter boxes and postal facilities are available on campus;
• Student Health Centre: provides basic medical care, psychological counselling and first-aid services;
• Convenience stores: 7-Eleven or similar convenience outlets operate on some floors.

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# 6. On-Campus Learning and Research Support Spaces

Beyond the library, PolyU provides a range of other learning spaces:

• Learning Commons: located on various floors, with computer terminals, printers and scanners;
• Studios and workshops: the School of Design (Jockey Club Innovation Tower) and the Industrial Centre both have workshops and studios open to students;
• Language Learning Centre: offers a self-access language-learning resource bank;
• Student project studios: individual departments maintain dedicated workspaces for coursework and capstone projects.

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# 7. Accessible Facilities and Health Services

PolyU invests continuously in making the campus accessible:

• Lifts covering the full podium network: although the raised podium has numerous steps, lifts serve all major circulation routes, making them usable by wheelchair users;
• Accessible toilets: available in every major block;
• Office for Students with Disabilities: provides priority classroom seating, permission to record lectures, extended examination time and other support arrangements;
• Mental health services: the Counselling and Wellness Section offers free counselling appointments and stress-management workshops.

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# 8. Hotel ICON (Off-Campus Teaching and Research Base)

Located in East Tsim Sha Tsui, Hotel ICON is both a teaching-and-research hotel wholly owned by PolyU and the base for its School of Hotel and Tourism Management (details of the investment amount, number of rooms, designers and other particulars are in Iconic Buildings and Landmarks). Together with the Hung Hom campus, the Hung Hom Bay/West Kowloon campuses and the student halls, it completes PolyU's "multi-site campus network centred on Hung Hom and spread across Kowloon".

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# 9. Cycling and Active Transport

Cycling culture in Hong Kong is weaker than in Southeast Asia or Europe, and the PolyU campus has no dedicated cycle tracks:

• Cycle parking: some lower floors of certain blocks have bicycle racks;
• Walking is the primary mode: streets in Hung Hom are busy, and walking is the main way of getting around campus;
• The waterfront promenade: the famous Hong Kong waterfront promenade runs near the Hung Hom waterfront, and some students and staff use it for morning walks or jogs;
• Active-travel initiatives: the University's green-campus policy encourages reducing private-car use, but given Hong Kong's urban environment, cycling is not currently a mainstream commuting option;
• By comparison, the walk from the Ho Man Tin Halls to the Hung Hom campus takes about 20–25 minutes, a daily option chosen by many hall residents.

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# 10. On-Campus Routes and Key Nodes

The main Hung Hom campus is structured around the raised podium, with blocks linked by covered walkways:

[Block A: teaching-block entrance]
   ↕ walkway
[Block Y: Innovation Centre / KTEO]
   ↕ walkway
[Block Z: School of Design / Jockey Club Innovation Tower]
   ↕ walkway
[Block L: Pao Yue-kong Library]
   ↕ walkway
[Sir Run Run Shaw Sports Hall (VS)]

Central area:
[Block P: Administration Block (old)]
[Block N: lecture theatres]
[Block Q: student canteen / commercial area]

Periphery:
[Block X: swimming pool / fitness centre]
[Jockey Club Auditorium / Blocks S–T area]
[Industrial Centre (IC): western side]

For first-time visitors, the covered podium system offers good shelter on rainy days, but its multi-level design can be hard to navigate — the suggestion is to start from the main university entrance (Yuk Choi Road entrance) and use the large map near Block P as a reference.

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# 11. Parking and Private Cars / Taxis

The main campus offers a limited number of visitor parking spaces:

• Official car parks are located in several lower-level areas of the campus, but total capacity is limited (suited to official visitors);
• Parking charges: on-campus parking is charged hourly and is not subsidised;
• Commuting by private car: given the limited road capacity of the Hung Hom area, most students and staff do not commute by private car;
• Taxis / ride-hailing: passengers can be picked up or dropped off near the main gates on Yuk Choi Road or Polytechnic Drive;
• The Cross-Harbour Tunnel's bus and tour-coach routes choose the area near PolyU as a gathering point after crossing the harbour, contributing further to the area's high pedestrian flow.

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# 12. Airport / Departure Transport

Getting from PolyU to Hong Kong International Airport:

Times above are approximate and subject to actual traffic and service conditions; please allow ample time for check-in.

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# 13. Accessibility and Special Transport Needs

• Designated parking for people with disabilities: available in designated areas of the campus;
• Full lift coverage: all major blocks and walkways have accessible lifts;
• Tactile paving: some ground surfaces on campus have guide paths for the visually impaired;
• Special transport arrangements: students with special needs may apply to the Office for Students with Disabilities for assisted transport;
• Accessibility map: the Student Affairs Office provides an accessible-campus map, available to students upon enrolment.

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# 14. Peak-Hour Transport Tips

For students about to enrol or visiting PolyU for the first time, the following experiential suggestions are offered for reference (they do not guarantee real-time accuracy of timetables or times):

• 8–9 am: the Tuen Ma line towards Hung Hom (from Tsuen Wan/Sha Tin) is extremely crowded; arriving about 20 minutes early is advisable;
• 5–7 pm: queues for cross-harbour tunnel buses can reach 20–30 minutes; the East Rail or Tuen Ma line is faster for crossing the harbour;
• Graduation season: on days when the Jockey Club Auditorium hosts graduation ceremonies (usually in November), traffic around the campus is noticeably heavier, with many family members arriving by bus; the MTR is recommended;
• Typhoons / amber rainstorm warnings: the University announces operational arrangements on its systems; hall residents do not need to go out, but should monitor the PolyU App and official website for notices.

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# 15. Additional Commonly Asked Questions

Q: How long does it take to get from Hung Hom station to the PolyU campus gate? A: About 3–5 minutes on foot from Exit A1 of Hung Hom station across the footbridge.

Q: Are there taxi ranks near PolyU? A: There are taxi pick-up and drop-off areas near the main gates on Yuk Choi Road and Polytechnic Drive, where taxis can be hailed.

Q: How do I get to the Ho Man Tin Halls? A: From Ho Man Tin station (Tuen Ma line), walk about 5–10 minutes, or take a minibus from Hung Hom station; walking directly takes about 20–25 minutes.

Q: How do I get from the MTR to the main building on rainy days? A: From Exit A1 of Hung Hom station, a covered footbridge leads directly to the PolyU podium level; no open-air section is needed.

Q: How far is Hotel ICON from the main PolyU campus? A: Hotel ICON is on Austin Road West in Tsim Sha Tsui, about a 15–20-minute walk from the main Hung Hom campus, or a short taxi ride.

Q: Can I use Octopus to pay for food on campus? A: Yes, on-campus restaurants, vending machines and the 3W convenience store all accept Octopus.

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