MTR branded 'irresponsible' for not reporting sparks in tunnel
Lawmaker says railway system 'irresponsible' for not reporting the incident to authorities
The MTR Corporation has been urged to explain why it did not report to police or the Fire Services Department when a driver saw sparks coming out of a tunnel wall.
A smell of burning and waves of warm air were felt when the rode on trains between the two stations yesterday morning. One of the trains also stopped in the middle of the tunnel with no announcement. Maintenance workers were seen on the platform at Quarry Bay station.
Police, the Fire Services Department and the Transport Department said they did not receive any report from the MTR, while the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department said the company had informed it of the incident. It said it was following up with the MTR to establish the cause.
An MTR insider said sparks "gushed out" from one of the emergency exit doors in the tunnel, and an empty train carried workers to the spot to check the cause. Foam was sprayed at the location every two hours, the source said.
"[The MTR] was ignoring the risks to continue train services," the source said, adding that the company should have ceased service to inspect the cause.
The MTR said that smoke and sparks emerged from "a gap on the wall" and it was investigating the cause.
Institute of Engineers president Raymond Chan Kin-sek said sparks may have come from power cables in the tunnel, but it was not very serious as it did not cause a power failure.
But lawmaker and Sai Kung district councillor Gary Fan Kwok-wai said he was concerned that the company did not report the incident to police.
He said the company was irresponsible and urged it to explain its policy on how to handle such incidents.
"It could have been serious. It's unacceptable that the MTR did not inform the public about the incident," he said.
"I suspect the MTR was trying to avoid attention on the first working day after the Lunar New Year break, when many people were still on holiday and not taking the MTR."
