Hong Kong’s MTR Corp says limited repair time may prevent more ultrasonic checks for tracks, after cracked rail disrupts travel
- Rail firm’s Tony Lee tells lawmakers cracked track sent to laboratory for testing after discovery disrupts MTR services during Ching Ming Festival
- ‘There are practical difficulties [about more frequent checks] because many other works also require the precious time of overnight maintenance hours,’ he adds
Tony Lee Kar-yun, operations and innovation director at the MTR Corporation, also told a Legislative Council railway subcommittee on Friday the firm had sent the cracked track section to a laboratory for study and to prevent any repeat incidents.
The damage was uncovered on Thursday morning at a melding position along a line near Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station, causing disruptions to the Tsuen Wan line service during the Ching Ming Festival, also known as tomb-sweeping day.
Services between Central and Tsuen Wan were delayed by 15 to 20 minutes for a short period that morning, with trains also travelling at reduced speeds between Tsim Sha Tsui and Jordan.
Lee told lawmakers that engineers had replaced the damaged section at around 11.30pm on Thursday, ensuring services could fully resume on Friday.
“The components removed last night will be sent to the laboratory for further analysis to see what understanding and information we can glean, so we can step up analysis and ensure such incidents can be minimised,” he said.
The operations and innovation director also said engineers currently conducted visual inspections of track sections every three days when the rail service stopped for the night.
A vehicle with ultrasonic equipment also checked each track section every two weeks to uncover any metal fatigue, while more in-depth physical inspections took place every four to six months.
Lee said real-time detection methods were also used, but did not elaborate further.
An MTR Corp document provided to Legco in 2014 said the testing vehicle was introduced in January 0f 2013 to ensure faster checks. Technicians also conduct dye penetrant tests two or three times a year, it added.
Lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun, a former chairman of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, pressed Lee to increase the frequency of ultrasonic checks by tapping into the company’s additional resources and new technology.
In 2023, the rail operator pledged to invest HK$65 billion (US$8.3 billion) over a five-year period in maintaining railway assets, while also using innovation and technology to improve standards after a string of incidents that year led to service disruptions.
“One hairline crack can widen quite a lot in two weeks, you should know it well,” Tien said. “Tell me if you can make it once a week now. It’s HK$65 billion! Where’s the money been spent?”
Hong Kong’s MTR to replace track section after cracks found near Tsim Sha Tsui
The MTR Corp’s Lee said meeting such a demand was difficult, but stopped short of saying whether running more ultrasonic inspections was a possibility.
“Of course, I hope to run the checks every night, but there are practical difficulties because many other works also require the precious time of overnight maintenance hours,” he said.
“Regarding the biweekly check, following our staff’s removal of the track [section] last night, we will conduct an in-depth analysis of all past data to study how to ensure that it does not happen again.”
Lawmakers also pushed the MTR Corp to speed up works to install platform doors at the ground-level stations along the East Rail line, the city’s oldest operating route, after two visually impaired passengers at Fo Tan station fell onto the tracks last Saturday. The project began last May. The works at Fo Tan station have yet to be completed.
Lee said on Friday that it was difficult to accelerate works at some stations, especially those at Lo Wu and Mong Kok East, which did not have straight platforms. The target completion date for the project would remain as 2025.
