Hong Kong’s MTR Corp should review No 9 typhoon protocols, ex-Observatory head says after commuters left stranded amid storm Koinu
- Former director Shun Chi-ming says suspension of rail services along open-air sections at Koinu’s peak on Sunday left thousands scrambling for other transport
- Shun questions why MTR Corp ‘did not consider actual weather conditions when deciding to suspend its services’
Hong Kong’s rail giant should review its procedures for No 9 typhoon warnings, a former director of the city’s weather forecaster has said after thousands of commuters were left stranded when storm Koinu struck the city over the weekend.
Shun Chi-ming, who previously worked for the Observatory, on Thursday said the suspension of rail services along open-air sections when the signal was raised on Sunday had damaged the city’s image as a world-class tourist destination.
“The key issue lies not in whether the Observatory issued a typhoon signal No 9 on Sunday, but rather in why [the MTR Corporation] did not consider the actual weather conditions when deciding to suspend its services,” he wrote on social media.
Thousands struggled to find alternative modes of travel when the city’s rail operator suspended open-air trains, including those for the Airport Express, only minutes after the forecaster issued the warning.
Shun said the practice dated back to July 23, 2012, when Typhoon Vicente hit Hong Kong and caused falling trees to damage overhead cables near Tai Po on the East Rail line. The incident left hundreds of people stranded on trains and stations overnight.