Thousands of passengers delayed after latest MTR breakdown

Thousands of travellers faced lengthy delays yesterday as an electrical fault on the East Rail Line forced a partial closure of the route - the fourth major incident on the MTR network in two months.

Almost four hours of chaos began shortly before noon when a Hung Hom-bound train broke down near University station in Sha Tin. Eyewitnesses reported seeing a flash outside the train, while some of the lights in the train's carriages went out.

Video footage taken by a passenger shows a 10-second burst of light on a pantograph - the apparatus that connects the train to the overhead power line. The train came to a halt near the platform of the station, which serves Chinese University.

The MTR Corporation blamed a faulty insulator between University and Fo Tan stations for the problems.

With the southbound track closed, all trains were diverted onto the northbound track, and service frequency was reduced to every 20 minutes. Trains on the East Rail Line usually run up to every four minutes on a Sunday.

A free shuttle bus was also introduced to connect Tai Po Market, University, Fo Tan and Sha Tin stations.

MTR staff carried out urgent maintenance work on the line, with firefighters on standby. But passengers complained that, in some cases, their travel time had more than doubled.