Train services to Hong Kong could finally return to normal, but only if protesters don’t smash up stations again this weekend
- Transport minister Frank Chan asks for week of peace to allow services to fully resume on MTR
- System was suspended on October 6 and 90 per cent of stations have been damaged during anti-government violence
Train services in Hong Kong could finally return to normal after next week, the city’s transport chief said on Saturday – but only if its stations are not vandalised again this weekend.
Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan also dismissed suggestions the stations had been closed for political reasons, and said early closing times had been implemented as a matter of public safety in the wake of the violent protests that have swept across the city since June.
Train services were fully suspended on October 6, and services on the MTR have only partially resumed since then, with stations still closing two or more hours early. Some critics have said the move amounted to imposing a curfew.
While the daily services have run until 11pm since Wednesday, the MTR Corporation announced trains would stop running at 10pm on Saturday and Sunday because of the higher risk of violence.
The rail operator said the decision was made after a joint risk assessment with relevant government departments.
“The decision of early closure was not a political one,” Chan said. “I would say every person in Hong Kong would like to have their mass transit railway back to normal, and if we could have a peaceful time, for example, for the past week, over the weekend and maybe next week, I would suppose that the MTR’s service could return to normal very quickly.