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The MTR had its hands full recently dealing with service faults. Photo: Nora Tam

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend ... but not for Hong Kong MTR users as design preview for future link in station falls flat

Sha Tin-Central link will only be completed in 2021 after delays, while most commuters still annoyed with recent service disruptions

The Sha Tin to Central MTR link, which has been plagued by delays, is not expected to be completed until 2021, but Hong Kong’s rail company on Monday gave internet users a sneak peek at a new platform for the link in Diamond Hill station, featuring ... diamonds.

The MTR Corporation revealed through an online post that columns on the platform and concourse of Diamond Hill station would boast diamond-shaped designs.

In two photos posted on the MTR’s Facebook page, a giant diamond pattern, formed by a mosaic of several smaller diamonds, is seen on a grey-coloured column.

The MTR posted pictures of Diamond Hill station on its Facebook page.

“Yes! There are large diamond-shaped designs in the future Diamond Hill station [link],” the company said on its page.

The preview however fell mostly flat with internet users.

“To be honest, the new station’s ‘diamonds’ are too over the top,” one said.

“The ugliness has reached a new level,” another said.

Some took the chance to criticise the MTR’s frequent service disruptions, which have caused trouble for many commuters.

“So what?” one person asked. “It doesn’t stop [the train services] breaking down all the time.”

“Turns out they’ve put all the resources into diamonds instead of cables,” another user joked.

Last Monday, a power failure halted MTR trains in both directions at eight stations along the Kwun Tong Line between Kowloon Tong and Kwun Tong for more than two hours in the evening, forcing stranded passengers to walk along rail tracks in the dark and line up with hundreds of others for shuttle buses or other public transport.

The company said the shutdown was caused by a device on an overhead cable on the track linking a Kowloon Bay depot and Choi Hung station.

During the disruption, the waiting time for trains running between Kowloon Tong and Whampoa was lengthened to 10 minutes, while services between Tiu Keng Leng and Kwun Tong were running at 12-minute intervals.

Earlier in the same day, faulty equipment on a Tung Chung Line train disrupted services to Lantau for over an hour from about 9.30am.

The disruption caused trains to operate at 12-minute intervals between Hong Kong station and Sunny Bay station – the interchange for the Disneyland Resort Line.

In February, the newly opened South Horizons station was closed for four hours because of flooding caused by a burst water pipe.
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