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Denise Tsang

Hong Kong’s rail operator has seen a week of turbulence, with an unprecedented management reshuffle after the government – its majority shareholder – demanded that heads roll for the scandal involving the city’s costliest rail project.
Over the past two months, news of substandard work on the HK$97.1 billion (US$12 billion) Sha Tin to Central link almost derailed the MTR Corporation’s reputation as one of the world’s largest and most profitable rail companies.

We look back on the series of events:
May 31
The MTR Corp confirms that a subcontractor cut corners on a key part of the project. The rail giant gives assurance that problems have been rectified and will not affect the construction timeline.

June 6
The MTR Corp says it is unclear who is responsible for the shoddy work. It vows to take legal action against any party involved in fraud over documentation of the works. Chairman Frederick Ma Si-hang says more time is needed to submit a report on the problems to the government.

June 12
Leaked photos show workers in uniforms of Leighton Contractors (Asia), the main contractor on the site in question, shortening steel bars to fit couplers at platforms for the expanded Hung Hom station along the rail link.
June 17
The MTR Corp plunges into deeper controversy as it faces accusations of insufficient ground support at Exhibition Centre station, another stop along the line. The company suspends excavation works at the site.

June 21
The board of the operator comes down hard on managers, ordering them to review the entire reporting and supervision mechanism for safety lapses. It also says it will engage an external consultant to review the problems.

Aug 7
Heads roll as the government expresses its loss of faith in those in charge of the project. The company announces the exit of four managers and the early departure of CEO Lincoln Leong Kwok-kuen. Officials say they found “huge discrepancies” in the rail giant’s two reports on the project.


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MTR Corporation

The fall from grace of Hong Kong’s MTR: a timeline of events in the Sha Tin-Central rail link scandal

The MTR Corp has seen its reputation take a major hit since the scandal. Photo: Felix Wong

***ONE TIME USE ONLY, PLEASE CLEAR THE COPYRIGHTS BEFORE RE-USE - OTUO*** Workers in uniforms and safety helmets of Leighton Contractors (Asia), the main contractor involved in the platform scandal of Sha Tin-Central rail link, were seen cutting corners, filling a missing jigsaw in the controversial puzzle of the shoddy work, according to tell-tale photographs the Post has obtained. The photos, taken on 22 September 2015, showed two workers in Leighton uniforms and helmets were cutting steel bars that formed the platform framework of the Hung Hom station for Hong Kong's most expensive rail project. 22SEP15. SCMP Photo

(left to right): Frederick Ma Si-hang, Chairman of MTR Corporation; Lincoln Leong Kwok-kuen, Chief Executive Officer of MTR Corporation; and Philco Wong Nai-keung, Projects Director of MTR Corporation, attend the MTR press conference on the Sha Tin to Central Link at the MTR Headquarters Building, in Kowloon Bay. MTR Corporation revealed that on five occasions between August and December 2015 the operator found that steel bars were cut to make it seems as if they had been screwed correctly into couplers on the platform. 06JUN18 SCMP / Dickson Lee

(left to right): Philco Wong Nai-keung, Projects Director of MTR Corporation; and Chief Executive Officer of MTR Corporation, Lincoln Leong Kwok-kuen, attends the MTR press conference regarding the recent faulty works found at the Exhibition Centre station on the Sha Tin to Central Link, photographed at the MTR Headquarters Building in Kowloon Bay. 19JUN18 SCMP / Felix Wong

General view of Hung Hom Station. Structural integrity of the work site of the two new underground levels that hosts four platforms for the future Tuen Ma Line and the extended East Rail Line is in question. MTR said on Wednesday Òthe problem has been solvedÓ as the mistakes in reinforcement fixing had been rectified. 30MAY18. SCMP/ Sam Tsang

Aerial shot of the Sha Tin-Central rail link in the Wan Chai Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) MTR station where faulty work was found. 19JUN18 SCMP / Sam Tsang

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Hong Kong

Hong Kong Economy

Trouble on city’s costliest rail link has seen a company thought to be one of the best in the business take a major hit to its reputation, as controversy continues to unfold


Trouble on city’s costliest rail link has seen a company thought to be one of the best in the business take a major hit to its reputation, as controversy continues to unfold.
