The picture on the left is Tai Po in 1935, and the picture on the right is modern
The names of most stations in Hong Kong are directly named after the place names, but the station in Tai Po is called Tai Po Market Station. Now there is obviously no Tai Po Station, so why not call it Tai Po Station more succinctly?
Tai Po Market Station is not called Tai Po Station, which is mainly a problem left over from history. Dating back to 1910 when the Kowloon-Canton Railway was opened to traffic, there were five stations in a section (English section) in Hong Kong: Tsim Sha Tsui Station, Yau Ma Tei Station, Sha Tin Station, Tai Po Station and Fanling Station. However, the Tai Po Station does not refer to today's Tai Po Market Station, but the station at Tai Po Kau. The reason for setting up a station at Tai Po Kau was because the pier by the sea at that time was a transportation hub for several outlying islands in the northeast of the New Territories and the northern part of the Sai Kung Peninsula, so there was also a certain traffic demand there.
So, what is the history of the current Tai Po Market Station? This can be traced back to the temporary station established in the same year when the KCRC opened to traffic: Tai Po Market Flag Station, which is located exactly at the current site of Tai Po Market Station. At that time, there were two markets in Tai Po, namely "Da Bu Market" and "Tai Wo City". When many readers see the names of these two markets, they think that "Dabu Market" is close to today's Tai Po Market Station; "Taihe City" is close to today's Taihe Station. Interestingly, the opposite is true. The flag station at Tai Po Market served the "Taihe City" at that time. In 1913, the authorities built a permanent station north of the temporary station and named it Tai Po Market Station. The location is today's Hong Kong Railway Museum. The place name of "Taihe City" gradually changed to "Tai Po Market" because of the name of "Tai Po Market Station", and the original "Da Bu Market" was renamed "Tai Po Old Market". On the other hand, the "Tai Po Station" located in Tai Po Kau was later renamed "Tai Po Kau Station".
Before the 1970s, there were two stations in Tai Po: Tai Po Kau Station and Tai Po Market Station. However, in the 1970s, the University Station and Ma Liushui Pier in Ma Liu Shui replaced the functions and status of Tai Po Kau Station and Tai Po Kau Pier. The author estimates that this is because the University Station also serves the Chinese University of Hong Kong. If the Tai Po Kau Pier is moved to Ma Liu Shui, the trains will no longer need to stop at Tai Po Kau. This will be more cost-effective. Therefore, Tai Po Kau Station has been out of use since then, and the original site was changed to staff quarters. At this time, Tai Po once had only one station, Tai Po Market Station. In 1983, a new station located south of the old Tai Po Market Station was completed, but the station did not take advantage of this great opportunity to change its name to "Tai Po Station", but continued to use the old name of "Tai Po Market Station". The author thinks there are two reasons: the station is far away from the center of Tai Po, that is, the area around the center of Tai Po; and the KCRC authorities are also planning to set up a second station in Tai Po.
The new station in Tai Po was opened in 1989 and is located next to Tai Wo Village, hence the name "Tai Wo Station". However, whether it is Taihe Village or Taihe Station, there is a distance from the former "Taihe City", but closer to the former "Dabu Market". However, this mismatch of place names is mainly due to the fault of the Housing Department in naming the housing estates, and has nothing to do with KCRC.
Article source MTR Station Name Interesting Talk: Why is Tai Po Market Station not called Tai Po Station? author kevin