My Take | Another scandal arrives on new MTR line
Now fears have been raised about the safety of a wall at To Kwa Wan station on the Sha Tin-Central link, and this problem may be the most serious yet
It may be the most expensive project of its kind ever undertaken by the MTR, but I am not sure I will feel safe riding on the new Sha Tin-Central link when it opens. It has been scandal after scandal, and cost overruns and delays, for the HK$97.1 billion railway line.
Under pressure from all sides, including friendly lawmakers from the pro-establishment bloc, the government has been forced to authorise an independent probe into negligent work carried out at Hung Hom station.
On transit platforms at the station, steel bars were deliberately cut to make them look like they had been screwed correctly into couplers.
MTR management, contractors and their sub-contractors knew about the screw-up as early as 2015, but the story only broke recently.
The commission, to be headed by former Court of Final Appeal judge Michael Hartmann, will have the power to summon witnesses and request documents.
All well and good, except another scandal has surfaced at the same rail project. It concerns a 30-metre-long wall next to a staircase at the platform of To Kwa Wan station. Workers removed reinforcement bars and cement from the wall, raising serious questions about its safety.