Hong Kong rail passengers hit with double whammy as signal failure compounds protest disruption

High-speed rail link with mainland China beset by technical failure, while demonstrations lead to heightened security

Thirty cross-border trains cancelled on day illegal protest marches on West Kowloon terminus

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A huge march heads from Tsim Sha Tsui to West Kowloon station, where passengers faced heightened security, as well as the fallout from a signal failure. Photo: May Tse

Published: 9:43pm, 20 Oct 2019Updated: 11:02pm, 20 Oct 2019

It was double trouble for Hong Kong’s high-speed rail link on Sunday as several cross-border trains were cancelled because of a signal failure, while enhanced security during another weekend of protests made even getting to the terminus difficult.

The MTR Corporation said it had to cancel a total of 30 short-haul cross-border trains – about 15 per cent of its 90 scheduled services – after a signal problem on a section of track near its West Kowloon terminus at about 11am.

An MTR spokeswoman said the rail giant arranged for affected passengers to find other ways to complete their journey.

“Our maintenance staff are still working on the repair works and investigating the cause of the outage. Our initial understanding is that the signal failure was caused by equipment faults,” she said.

Extra security measures were in place on Sunday at West Kowloon station, which was the destination of an anti-government march. Photo: Winson Wong

The commuter chaos was further aggravated just after 1pm when an illegal march involving thousands of protesters set off from Salisbury Garden in the shopping district of Tsim Sha Tsui to the West Kowloon terminus.

By that time, the railway station had increased its security arrangements and only passengers who had already bought tickets were allowed to enter, while a few police officers guarded the entrance.