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Martin Wong

A day after new chief is on job people on East Rail delayed up to 15 minutes

The KCR was hit by three service delays yesterday, a day after new chief executive James Blake took over in an effort to get the troubled railway's operations back on track.

The delays, ranging from eight to 15 minutes, were caused by tripping of an overhead wire, a train breakdown and a passenger who jumped onto the track after getting off at the wrong station.

Legislative Council transport panel chairman Lau Kong-wah said the number of incidents on a single day was 'unprecedentedly' high and he worried whether it had anything to do with the recent management crisis.

The incidents brought a renewed call from the KCR Officers Union for scrapping of the notification system that requires all delays over eight minutes to be reported.

Union chairwoman Rainbow Lau Choy-hung  said the system caused a surge in reports of minor incidents since the reporting time was cut from 20 minutes in 2004.

The first incident happened shortly after 11am, when an overhead cable tripped near University station, causing a 15-minute delay on the East Rail line.

Travel time from East Tsim Sha Tsui to Lowu was extended from 42.5 minutes to 57.5 minutes. Six emergency buses were used to ease crowded platforms until services returned to normal at about noon.

An hour later, a southbound train returning to the  Fo Tan depot broke down at the southern end of Sheung Shui station, causing delays of more than 10 minutes on East Rail.

The third incident happened at 3.50pm, when a passenger jumped onto the track at Hunghom station and ran towards Tsim Sha Tsui, causing an eight-minute delay. Police sources said the man, who had wanted to get off at East Tsim Sha Tsui station, was trying to get back on the train. He was given a verbal warning.

The KCR apologised to passengers for the inconvenience and said it was investigating.

Mr Lau  said he hoped the delays had nothing to do with the company's recent management crisis, which led to the resignation of former acting chief executive Samuel Lai Man-hay.

He called for the railway to install platform screen doors.

Ms  Lau blamed the eight-minute notification mechanism for the rising number of reported incidents. 'To walk from our office to the scene of the incident probably takes eight minutes already, let alone finding out the causes,' she said.

Staff have complained that the eight-minute rule, promoted by chairman Michael Tien Puk-sun  in a move to improve transparency, has hurt the company's image and severely increased workloads.

Ms Lau said she would urge Mr Blake at a meeting today to review the policy in light of his promise to boost morale. 'We will tell him our difficulties in realising the eight-minute notification mechanism,' she said. 'I hope he will consider revising it in a balance between safety and transparency.'

Meanwhile, the government has reappointed  Mr Tien  as chairman of the Employees Retraining Board for another year until the end of March 2007.



Troubled KCR hit by three faults in one day