Hong Kong’s rail operator is under pressure to explain whether human error was behind a 1½-hour partial shutdown of the Island line on Wednesday and to strengthen staff training to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Ex-lawmaker Gary Zhang Xinyu, a former MTR Corporation engineer, said on Thursday that the previous day’s disruption was very likely to have been caused by non-compliance with maintenance protocols.
“The coming investigation should focus on whether maintenance protocols were strictly followed,” Zhang, now director of the Smart Transportation Alliance, told a radio show.
“Unless they encountered an unprecedented mechanical failure, the chances of human error are nowhere near low.”
Train services between Sheung Wan and Quarry Bay stations were suspended shortly after the Island line began operating at 6.07am on Wednesday. They resumed at 7.30am.
The MTR Corp said items from a maintenance vehicle and damage to track equipment caused the disruption, describing the incident as “rare”.
Authorities told the company to submit a report within a month.
Zhang said that maintenance trains usually had extendable parts that had to be folded when travelling through certain sections, and that some of these might not have been folded, damaging equipment along the track.
“By design, [the damaged signal component] should not come into contact with any train. But if a part extends from the train, it could hook, drag and damage the component,” he said.
He added that even if a mechanical failure were to blame for the incident, human error might also have played a role.
“The MTR has a comprehensive train inspection procedure. If staff failed to detect it, that would still be a management problem,” he said.
Zhang urged the company to strengthen staff training if the investigation found that human error caused the incident.
On the same show, Ben Chan Han-pan, chairman of the Legislative Council’s transport panel, said the incident might have resulted from a failure to follow maintenance protocols under strict time limits.
“The investigation should focus on staff training, maintenance protocols and internal monitoring to prevent similar incidents in the future,” he said.
He also suggested that the MTR Corp consider ending services earlier on less busy days to carry out large-scale maintenance and ease the time pressure on its engineering team. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
