I AM writing in response to a letter from Mr Tony Giles (South China Morning Post, March 22), who commented on the levels of crowding experienced on the MTR during peak hour travelling periods. Mr Giles made reference to conditions which he considered to be dangerous with particular concern expressed as to the capacity of escalators and platforms.
The MTR Corporation notes Mr Giles' concern, but must counter any suggestion made that the railway is being operated with passenger numbers exceeding the capacity of the system, either in normal operating conditions or during any incident requiring management of exceptional passenger flows or an occasion requiring evacuation of the railway premises.
Recent evaluations of the design of the railway entrances, concourses, platforms, escalators, adits and trains have shown that fully loaded trains can operate in the peak period at headways down to 105 seconds.
In 1996 on the completion of new signalling works that are now in hand, it is planned to operate the most heavily used line, between Tsuen Wan and Central, at such headways in the morning, with some 85,000 passengers per hour being carried during the peak period.
Handling passengers in these numbers requires well-trained operational staff in sufficient numbers to manage normal or abnormal conditions, reliable trains and equipment, and a high degree of co-operation from the travelling public.
On the vast majority of the morning peak periods each month the corporation does in fact enjoy such co-operation and provides a reliable service that delivers passengers to their workplaces on time and with reasonable standards of comfort.
On the infrequent occasions when there are minor or more serious disruptions to passenger services the railway operation is managed to ensure that congestion in public areas does not rise to any level which might prejudice safety and contingency measuresare put into effect to effect recovery and the earliest resumption of normal train services.
