Delays on MTR link, lack of platform doors seen as suicide risk
Delays on the MTR link between Sha Tin and Central leave stations without screen doors, prompting concerns about preventable deaths
Delays to the long-awaited Sha Tin-to-Central link could have a human cost, suicide-prevention experts warned as they called on the MTR Corporation to speed up installation of platform safety doors at stations.
A total of 22 stations on the East Rail and Ma On Shan lines still lack doors, leaving open access to the track. They will be installed as part of the work on the new railway, which is due to open in 2018 but is behind schedule.
From 2005 to April this year, 27 people took their own lives on stations run by the former KCR - including all of those without platform doors. In the same period, Transport Bureau figures show, nine people killed themselves at other MTR stations, with none since 2011.
Yip said that for almost a decade, his research team had urged the MTR to install doors at all platforms because they have been proved to prevent suicides and accidents.
"It's not just for suicide prevention, it's for accidents, too. Some older people may slip, or even dogs," Yip said, in reference to an incident in August when a stray dog was killed after wandering on to the East Rail Line.
A spokeswoman for the MTR said gates would be installed on the two lines during the Sha Tin-to-Central project, which would involve platform modifications and a new signalling system.
