Hong Kong’s MTR services on Island line suspended after safety system seals train doors, some commuters leave through emergency exit
- MTR Corporation says trains at Wan Chai station were halted, later adding that services were ‘gradually resuming’
- ‘When the driver was dealing with the train control centre, some passengers opened the emergency exit ramp at the rear of the train by themselves,’ operator says
Hong Kong’s rail operator suspended some services on the Island line for about an hour on Monday night after a train arriving at Wan Chai station failed to unseal its doors and some 20 passengers left their carriage through an emergency exit.
The MTR Corporation revealed more details at midnight, hours after the incident in which doors on a Kennedy Town-bound train had failed to open at the platform at 8.05pm.
“When the driver was dealing with the train control centre, some passengers opened the emergency exit ramp at the rear of the train by themselves,” the rail giant said in a statement.
“About 20 passengers left the compartment through the ramp and returned to the platform with the help of staff.”
The MTR Corp said the remaining passengers left the train “normally” through the platform once the doors could be opened.
The operator stopped trains from entering Wan Chai station for “safety reasons” during the incident. Services between Sheung Wan and Quarry Bay were suspended and gradually resumed at 9.02pm on Monday.
The MTR Corp urged passengers not to open the emergency exit in non-emergency situations and wait patiently in the carriage, adding that staff would give instructions and provide help as soon as possible.
Passengers on the train in question on Monday night had contacted station staff and also called police for help, with responders managing to open the door and let them out. No injuries were reported as a result of the incident.
The train involved was sent back to its depot for further examination to find out the cause of the problem, a source told the Post.
A second train waited 100 metres (328 feet) behind the first one during the incident. The driver said he had not noticed anyone exiting from the train in front onto the tracks.
A Post reporter at the scene said she noticed a problem with the train doors as she arrived at Wan Chai station just after 8pm.
“When I arrived, the train was already there and the doors weren’t opening. Passengers were waiting to exit and enter the train,” she said.
“They eventually managed to open the gates and train doors. All of us waiting on the platform rushed in. Almost immediately, we were asked to get off the train.”
Passengers remained on the platform for several minutes before police arrived and told them to leave the station as the train service was suspended.
The MTR Corp arranged free shuttle bus services during the incident, while bus operator KMB said it had planned more trips in response to the train suspension.
Long queues were seen at bus stops underneath the Canal Road Flyover in Causeway Bay.
Services along the Tsuen Wan line were interrupted for hours after several doors fell off a train carriage at Yau Ma Tei station last November, which forced workers to carry out overnight repairs.
Part of a billboard installed along the tracks dislodged and clipped a pair of doors on a train approaching Causeway Bay station during an evening rush hour in 2021, which caused a service suspension that lasted more than three hours.
The rail company can be fined up to HK$25 million (US$3.2 million) for a service suspension under present policy.
A disruption that lasts between 31 minutes and an hour could cost the MTR Corp HK$1 million per incident. A three-to-four-hour delay would result in a HK$5 million fine, on top of an extra HK$2.5 million fine for every subsequent hour.
