Hong Kong’s embattled rail operator is expected to be slapped with a record HK$25 million penalty for the city’s first MTR crash, which caused an unprecedented two-day suspension of service between two of its busiest stations. The accident on the Tsuen Wan line forced trains to be cancelled between Admiralty and Central for two days early last week, with the wreckage finally being cleared over the weekend. In a paper submitted to the Legislative Council’s railways subcommittee on Thursday, the MTR Corporation said under the penalty mechanism, it would allocate the relevant fine for the two days’ service disruptions as fare concessions for passengers. But it did not say how much. Under the Service Performance Arrangement, the rail operator can be fined for any disruptions lasting 31 minutes or more, and the maximum fine for each incident is capped at HK$25 million. Lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun said the rail giant was expected to pay a penalty of HK$25 million. This represents roughly 70 per cent of its HK$36.2 million daily revenue from MTR train services. Hong Kong’s embattled MTR Corp to raise prices by 3.3 per cent The fine follows an HK$8 million (US$1.02 million) penalty for service delays in October, after a simultaneous breakdown of four MTR lines caused by the incompatibility of two signalling systems. Two trains collided last Monday at a crossover junction near Central station during an overnight trial of the new HK$3.3 billion (US$420.4 million) signalling system meant for seven rail lines. One carriage was derailed, injuring a driver, but no passengers were on board. In a statement released on Wednesday, the MTR Corp said it had set up an investigation panel to identify the causes of the incident, and make recommendations to prevent it happening again. Hong Kong MTR worker recounts 48 hours of toil to get derailed train back on track The corporation earlier said the crash occurred during tests that simulated a switch to the second backup system, in a scenario where the main system and the first backup system had both failed. In the paper, it also revealed that a fail-safe interlocking function in the second backup system also failed to stop the trains as required during the signal failure. MTR bosses earlier suggested the crash was caused by an “unacceptable” software flaw in the new signalling system, resulting in the trains being assigned the same crossing. The corporation takes the incident very seriously. Lincoln Leong, the outgoing chief executive of the MTR Corporation The panel, jointly chaired by operations director Adi Lau and engineering director Dr Peter Ewen, comprised another seven senior members from the rail firm. Four external experts from Hong Kong and overseas had been appointed to provide professional advice during the investigation. “The corporation takes the incident very seriously,” Lincoln Leong, the rail operator’s outgoing CEO, said. “We apologise once again to the passengers affected by the service disruption and would like to thank them for their understanding and cooperation. “We also appreciate the assistance rendered by relevant government departments during the handling and recovery of the incident.” MTR Corp said the panel would conduct a thorough review of different aspects of the incident, including the circumstances surrounding it and the related design of the new signalling system, for which French multinational Thales supplied the software. The corporation expected to tell the government the results of its investigation in three months.