Report ordered on KCR delays
Transport secretary Sarah Liao Sau-tung has demanded a report from the KCRC on the disruption of peak-hour services caused by a 5mm crack in a section of its East Rail line near Kowloon Tong on Friday morning.
She criticised the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation's delay in reporting the crack to the public and the Transport Department. 'All trains should be run on a very strict timetable. If anything goes wrong, the first thing is to inform the public through the media and they must inform our Transport Department,' she said.
The crack was discovered by rail workers at 7.45am. The KCRC notified the Transport Department 18 minutes later. Services did not return to normal until just before 9am after emergency repairs.
Dr Liao said the railway operator should not treat any problem as a minor incident, as it was required to ensure passenger safety on the rail system.
She said the KCRC had been asked to investigate the incident thoroughly and compile a report for the Transport Department. To prevent similar incidents in future, maintenance of the East Rail line might be stepped up since it was 'comparatively old', she said.
KCRC chairman Michael Tien Puk-sun admitted it needed to improve its notification system and be more flexible when dealing with such incidents. 'The company always adheres to the rule that only after 20 minutes would an incident be regarded as serious and all the people [told] about it,' he said. He promised to look into the causes of the incident.
Meanwhile, the KCRC will extend trial services on its new West Rail line. As well as those scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, trial services will also run on Tuesday. Scheduled services between Tuen Mun and West Kowloon will begin at 2pm on Saturday.
Mr Tien said 300 extra staff would be deployed at the new interchanges to ensure the smooth operation of the line and 150 buses would be ready if there was an emergency.
