Unknown signalling system problem caused Hong Kong’s October MTR chaos, operator says
- Firm hit with an HK$8 million penalty for service delays that left rail network in chaos
- Penalty to be given back to passengers in form of fare concessions late next year, says MTR boss
Hong Kong’s rail operator will be hit with an HK$8 million (US$1.02 million) penalty for service delays in October that saw an unprecedented simultaneous breakdown of four MTR lines.
The operator on Wednesday submitted a final report on the shutdown to the government in which it said a previously unknown incompatibility between two signalling systems caused the chaos.
The MTR Corporation said it had been unaware of the operational differences between two interconnected groups of computers controlling the systems, which were supplied by Siemens and Alstom.
Alstom’s system involved 25 computers for different sections of the network, in place since 1996 on the Kwun Tong, Island and Tsuen Wan lines. These were able to automatically reset themselves when necessary. But the system by Siemens, in place since 2001, involved eight computers on the Tseung Kwan O line and part of the Kwun Tong line, and needed resetting manually.
Both systems required resetting after about 20 years of operation. On October 16 the Alstom system automatically reset while the Siemens system continued functioning.