Apana Kikowaena is the central interchange station on the Telamon City Subway, where almost all lines meet. It is also a connecting point to the Hilo Railway, which is located at an at-grade portion of the station nearby. All lines except for R1, R4 and R9 and the Maglev line terminate or run here. The station was originally opened on R1 in 1965, but the original station closed down in 2007 due to water penetration problems after a small typhoon hit in early 2007. The replacement station was intended to be the capital’s “Intermodal Station” to allow for a more efficient, centralized transportation network, and was proposed in 2008. Ground broke on the new station in 2010 about 0.7 miles away from the original station, in a much deeper section of the tunnel. It was complete in 2013. The station is located near the city hall and several busy intersections, making it one of the most frequently used.
Design and layout
At street level, the head house is the main entrance to the station, which provides access to the taxi stands and drop off zones. On the inside is a large shopping mall integrated into the station area, and an escalator and elevator to the fare control floor, which is one level below the surface. This level has the fare gates and provides access to all three underground parking garages and the bus terminal, which is also located underground (see below). Below it is the mezzanine floor, where passengers can either continue down to the P1 level (which has one island platform for the Maglev, and two island platforms for the R1 and R4 lines, and one pair of side platforms for the R9, all being through, non-terminating platforms) or to the P2 level, which requires passengers to walk further down the mezzanine and descend another floor to the deepest floor, the P2 level. On the P2 floor, there are... *coming soon*