Mechanical glitches force two rail services into the slow lane

Before the horrifying arson attack on the MTR yesterday morning, tens of thousands trying to get to work and school across the city were delayed by mechanical glitches on the MTR's Kwun Tong line and the KCRC's new West Rail link.

At the height of the morning rush, between 8am and 8.30am, commuters on both urban rail lines suffered slightly longer journey times as a result of malfunctioning equipment.

The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation's West Rail line faced its first big test yesterday after more than two weeks of operations, with students and commuters returning to work after the Christmas break.

KCR spokesman Jeff Leung Chi-keung said a software communications breakdown occurred at 8.41am near Kam Sheung station between the operations control centre computer and an automatic track switching device at a junction point. 'The computer normally tells the train whether to turn or go straight at the point but there was no signal ... so we sent some people down to the site. It was fixed in 19 minutes,' Mr Leung said.

Trains drove slowly past the point, resulting in a two-minute extension of journey times. Normal services were resumed at 9am, he said.

The KCR said there was no connection between yesterday's malfunction and an incident on Sunday night when a power supply problem affected the line's signalling system, causing a two-minute delay.