MTR to review storm protection after disruption
Railway operator will also look at passenger announcements after West Rail delays
The MTR Corporation will review its thunderstorm protection system and how it keeps passengers informed after lightning caused hours of delays on the West Rail Line on Tuesday.
The troubled rail operator announced the review yesterday, when it also suffered more delays when a signalling fault forced trains on the Kwun Tong and Tsueng Kwan O lines to run more slowly than usual.
Passengers complained that they had to wait up to an hour for a train on the West Rail Line on Tuesday after lightning damaged the signalling system.
They criticised the MTR for not arranging shuttle buses to help ease the situation for commuters.
The disruption continued for more than six hours until 10.45pm.
Operations director Dr Jacob Kam Chak-pui said devices were already in place to protect the system from the effects of thunder and lightning.
But the MTR would consider upgrading the devices to protect it from even higher voltage and was inviting university scholars to help study the feasibility of such a change.
"Our devices are already quite powerful, but there are even more powerful ones on the market," he said.
The MTR told passengers during Tuesday's disruptions that trains from Hung Hom to Tin Shui Wai were running every six minutes and from Tin Shui Wai to Tuen Mun every 12 minutes
But Kam acknowledged yesterday that some passengers might have waited longer than that as the MTR's estimates could be inaccurate.
He said the company would also review how it could provide more accurate information to passengers.
Yesterday's delays were caused by a signalling system problem affecting the Kwun Tong and Tseung Kwan O lines.
A spokeswoman said the Kwun Tong Line delays started at 9.15am when a signalling problem occurred between Choi Hung and Kowloon Bay stations.
Train journeys between the two stations were extended by two to three minutes. Full service resumed at 11.15am.
On the Tseung Kwan O Line, a signalling fault occurred at 11.20am between Tiu Keng Leng and Tseung Kwan O. Train journeys on the line were also extended by two to three minutes and services returned to normal 40 minutes later.
The incidents were the latest in a series of disruptions to hit the MTR in recent months. In May, the government warned bosses at the corporation - which has also been dogged by delays in the building of new lines - that they could face pay cuts if services continued to suffer.
