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French software supplier Thales, which is behind the new signalling system for the MTR, has been blamed for the crash. Photo: Nora Tam

MTR Corp embroiled in row with French software supplier Thales over test that could have stopped crash, Michael Tien says

  • Dispute centres on a simulation of a particular scenario under which overnight trial run was conducted
  • But consultant says rail giant also has the responsibility to check with supplier if test was done

Hong Kong’s rail giant has blamed the French supplier of its signalling system for failing to run a simulation that would have prevented a crash on Monday, according to a lawmaker and former rail boss.

Citing insider sources, lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun said a row had erupted between the MTR Corporation and world-renowned software supplier Thales over a train accident that led to two days of commuter disruption.

At about 3am on Monday, two trains collided near Central station during an overnight trial run of the new HK$3.3 billion (US$420.4 million) signalling system, derailing one carriage and injuring a driver. No passengers were on board.

“As far as I know the MTR Corp and Thales are having a dispute. MTR blames Thales for failure to conduct a simulation of a particular scenario that was being used for the trial run.

“But Thales argued that it had not received any instruction from the MTR Corp to conduct such a test,” Tien, a former chairman of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, said on Wednesday.

The unprecedented collision caused a two-day service breakdown between Admiralty and Central on the Tsuen Wan Line. The rail operator said the software error simultaneously assigned the same crossing to the two trains.

Tien said the problem also involved the malfunction of a default mode which should have stopped the trains in the event of a signal failure.

“I was told that now the MTR Corp is really furious and prepared to pursue claims against Thales. I think that the MTR Corp has a strong basis to sue the supplier for damages,” he said.

The rail giant earlier said the incident occurred during tests which simulated switching to a second backup system in a scenario where the main and the first backup systems both failed to function.

However, Tien pointed out that the rail operator also had its fair share of responsibility for not communicating specific requests to the supplier.

“The MTR Corp expected Thales to test all kinds of scenarios. It’s obvious that it didn’t tell Thales about this specific scenario that was being used for the trial run. I am sure there was a lack of communication in the process resulting in Thales not covering this particular aspect.”

Signalling system blamed for MTR collision also used in Singapore crash

Amaury Jourdan, vice-president for Thales’ technical and transport activity, earlier insisted there was nothing wrong with the design of the software, saying the issue was related to the specific “redundancy architecture” for the Hong Kong system.

Consultant Chang Che-son, CEO of Pypun-KD & Associates, said the rail company should confirm with Thales that the specific simulation had already been conducted before proceeding with the trial run.

“There can be many situations for causing the scenario in which both the main and the first backup systems fail to function. The differences in situations are nuanced,” Chang said.

He added that the MTR Corp owed the public an account of whether it had requested the supplier to conduct tests on the specific scenario. “From what had happened, it is likely that no simulated tests were done on this. Why was there this oversight?”

By press time, the MTR Corp had not responded to inquiries from the Post, and Thales said it had no further updates.

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