MTR Corp upgrades delay alerts
MTR passengers will be warned within 20 minutes when a long service delay is expected due to an accident, the MTR Corporation has promised.
In a paper to the Legislative Council transport panel's railways subcommittee, the MTR Corp said that when the train service was interrupted, passengers would be advised to take alternative transport if it could not be resumed within 20 minutes.
Emergency buses would be put on standby and mobilised once a service suspension was confirmed.
When a train is stalled between stations, the company would decide within 20 minutes whether passengers needed to leave the train.
The company also agreed to keep passengers better informed during service disruptions. Part-time station assistants would be organised to help passengers.
On December 8, damage to an overhead power cable caused the suspension of train services between Yau Tong and Tiu Keng Leng stations on the Kwun Tong line.
More than 18,000 commuters were delayed for more than three hours, prompting criticism that the rail company lacked a contingency plan and had failed to give passengers enough information.
An investigation showed that human error in operating an 'isolator', which supported cables supplying electricity to trains, had damaged a power cable.
To avoid a similar incident, the MTR Corp told lawmakers that the isolators were being checked twice as often.
The company was also designing remote sensing facilities to monitor the isolators at critical locations.
