The MTR Corp has again been urged to offer desperate passengers relief by installing public toilets in stations.
Lawmakers at a Legco committee meeting discussing the MTR Corp and Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation merger bill said the MTR Corp should improve services by building public toilets.
But the deputy secretary for the environment, transport and works, Patrick Ho Chung-kei, said the rail operator had found that technical problems with drainage and hygiene were too difficult to overcome.
'The company says construction of toilets involves drainage work,' Mr Ho said. 'There are also complicated technical problems if construction work has to be done at platforms and the concourse for installation of toilets. A hygiene problem is also another concern, such as a bad smell.'
However, Mr Ho said the operator would try installing toilets at new lines and outside existing stations.
Some KCRC stations have public toilets, but only Yan O, the last MTR station before Disneyland, has public toilets.
Legislators Albert Chan Wai-yip and Emily Lau Wai-hing said this was not acceptable.