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MTR Corporation
Hong KongHong Kong Economy

Ageing of Hong Kong’s railway system not a factor in weekend disruption, operator says

Senior MTR Corp officer calls it‘an isolated case’ but agrees inquiry could be widened as it describes investigative panel

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Passengers wait to board a train on a packed platform at Choi Hung station after the signalling problem on Saturday. Photo: Edward Wong
Ng Kang-chung
The MTR Corporation has denied that serious disruptions last Saturdayhad anything to do with the ageing of its system or inadequate maintenance.

But a senior officer at the railway operator agreed to consider expanding the scope of its inquiry into the incident to review if a major overhaul was needed.

The company is launching an independent probe to find out what caused the signalling problem on the Kwun Tong Line that disrupted service for more than 10 hours. Initial findings by its engineers revealed problems in the transmission of signalling data between Kwun Tong and Ngau Tau Kok stations.
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Free shuttle buses were provided to passengers delayed on Saturday. Photo: Edward Wong
Free shuttle buses were provided to passengers delayed on Saturday. Photo: Edward Wong
The fault took place at around 11.05am and was not fixed until 9.25pm, raising concerns about possible ageing problems of the line, which has been operating since 1979. And there were calls for the investigation to widen its scope, including the reliability of the signalling systems on all lines.

MTR chief of operating Francis Li Shing-kee said on Monday that the investigation panel, on which an outside consultant would be invited to sit, was being formed. Preliminary findings were expected in about two months.

Trains were able to get back to run every five minutes around 2pm. That was more or less the same as the normal service level
Francis Li Shing-kee, MTR chief of operating

“The terms of reference of the investigation panel have not been worked out,” Li said on an RTHK programme. “If needed, we may possibly consider looking at the wider issue [of signalling systems of the entire system].”

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