Suspension of Hong Kong cross-border train tests brings bigger problems, former railway boss Michael Tien says
He says it’s crucial to continue trials to uncover other potential bugs following derailment incident, since plan is to start passenger services from September
The MTR Corporation’s decision to suspend testing trains for Hong Kong’s new express rail link to mainland China was a “knee-jerk reaction” to a derailment incident and would only lead to bigger problems in the future, former railway boss and lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun said on Friday.
Tien, who was chairman of rail operator KCR before it merged with MTR Corp in 2007, said the operator should go “full speed ahead” and continue running tests to uncover other bugs, especially since it intended to begin passenger services in September on the HK$84.4 billion (US$10.7 billion) rail link.
Hong Kong express rail will not run until proven safe after derailment
“I don’t know why they stopped the testing. I thought they would go full speed ahead ... assuming there may be other [problems],” he said. “If we stop tests now, what do we do? Further tests after this [may be too late] and will involve passengers.”
If we stop tests now, what do we do? Further tests after this [may be too late] and involve passengers
On Wednesday, the MTR Corp said it had put the brakes on tests two days after starting the process, as it investigated how four wheels on a French-designed, made-in-China train had “shifted out of position” during a trial run. Train depot staff discovered this during an inspection at 9.15pm on Tuesday night.
The government demanded that the MTR Corp produce an investigation report “as soon as possible” to determine the cause of the incident and take measures to prevent it from recurring.
The operator’s initial examination found the derailment was isolated to the maintenance depot and there were no widespread defects across the rail line.
On Friday Chan said he would not speculate on the cause of the incident but added he could not see why the derailment incident would affect the proposed start of train services in September. However, he did not elaborate on his beliefs.
