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A stalled train causes a 30-minute delay for commuters on the Kwun Tong line, one of the busiest of the rail network

About 10,000 rush-hour commuters were held up for  about half an hour along parts of the MTR's Kwun Tong line yesterday morning after a train malfunctioned at Shek Kip Mei station.

The delay started around 8.20am and continued until almost 9am after a train stalled at Shekkipmei.

A Mass Transit Railway spokeswoman said both the front and rear engines of the train could not be restarted.

'We will need to take the train back to the service depot for a detailed inspection to identify what went wrong,' she said.

The affected train was moved to a side track near the Yau Ma Tei station to allow  normal service to resume.

The disruption affected morning commuters between Choi Hung to Yau Ma Tei on the Kwun Tong line, which is one of the busiest sections of the rail network during rush hours.

Other sections of the MTR network were not affected by the delay although the waiting time between trains was slightly extended along the eastern end of the Kwun Tong line.

The company estimates that nearly 10,000 commuters were affected by the incident.

When the initial train malfunctioned, passengers were asked to alight from a second train so that the two could be coupled together. The second train pushed the stalled train in front to a side track.

Some commuters complained there was a lack of shuttle buses and alternative means of getting to work.

A spokesman for the Transport Department said it was informed of the incident at  8.36am and the department contacted public transport operators such as Kowloon Motor Bus  to increase the frequency of their services.

MTR said the time lag in reporting the incident was due to attempts by the driver to restart the stalled train.

'We understand the passengers' concerns ... [and] we are sorry about the inconvenience. We did not arrange alternative shuttle buses because we knew the delay would not take long to overcome,' the  MTR spokeswoman said.

'It takes time to despatch shuttle buses to the affected areas, in any case. We also made public announcements on platforms informing passengers that they could still get across the harbour along the Eastern Harbour Crossing route.'

However, a caller on a radio programme insisted the MTR was 'incompetent' for not organising alternative transport 'quickly enough'.

'The delay was not long,' the MTR spokeswoman said.

The MTR said that work to push the train out of the way began at 8.40am and services were back to normal at 8.57am.

The Transport Department said it would ask the MTRC to file a 'detailed report about the incident, as soon as possible'.

'We normally expect to receive [a report] in about two to three days,' the department spokesman said.



10,000 held up by MTR rush-hour breakdown