An MTR train travelling on the Tung Chung Line had to be evacuated yesterday afternoon amid the smell of smoke due to signal failure.
Several hundred passengers en route from Tung Chung to Hong Kong Island, who were forced to alight at the Siu Ho Wan depot near Sunny Bay, described a burning smell as the train decelerated to crawling pace and coasted towards the emergency platform.
The passengers were picked up by another train and continued their journey to Hong Kong Station.
An MTR spokeswoman said the train failed to receive signals at around 4.10pm, triggering a safety mechanism that caused the train to slow down.
She said the burning smell caused by hard braking was a normal occurrence. She said the train had dropped off the passengers before it was taken for repairs to its signal receiver.
'A passenger train travelling from Tung Chung to Hong Kong near Sunny Bay Station stopped receiving signals,' she said. 'This triggered off a safety mechanism to slow down [the train].