Oversized luggage on MTR provoked 73% more warnings in 2015 than 2014 – while assaults on staff doubled
Majority of warnings issued on stations near mainland border, popular with parallel traders
MTR last year issued 8,100 warning letters to passengers for breaking luggage size rules, up 73 per cent from 2014, while the number of assaults against its staff doubled to 40.
Most of the warning letters were issued at train stations near the border with mainland China, such as Lok Ma Chau and Lo Wu.
In total, MTR said an average of 9,000 passengers per month were stopped from travelling on the train for carrying bulky or oversized items, and this mostly happened on the East Rail Line, which links Hung Hom with the mainland border.
“For the bylaws inspection unit, most of the assault cases were due to confrontation with passengers carrying oversized objects or luggage,” said MTR operations manager Allen Ding Ka-chun after announcing crowd control measures at Sheung Shui train station ahead of Chinese New Year. “Most of the assaults involved physical clashes.”
But the numbers do compare favourably with London’s Underground system. According to Transport for London, there were 2,753 assaults on Underground employees in a year from 2013 to 2014. The Tube handles up to 4 million passenger journeys per day, while MTR says it has an average of over 5.4 million passengers on weekdays.
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Ding did not say the rise in assault cases was specifically related to parallel trading, attributing it to an increase in passengers.