Hong Kong’s electrical and mechanical services authorities have expressed “grave concern” and pledged to conduct a special audit on the MTR Corporation’s maintenance capabilities in the wake of two incidents involving engineering trains that disrupted rail services twice in three months.
A lawmaker on Monday also called on the city’s railway operator to upgrade its technology and invest more on maintenance to avoid such disruptions.
The government’s latest action was prompted by an incident that happened on Sunday, when an engineering train used for inspecting overhead cables malfunctioned near Fo Tan Station on the East Rail line, causing over six hours of service disruptions and travel times to be extended by 10 to 15 minutes.
A similar incident took place in February when another engineering train used for lifting operations broke down near Tai Wo Station on the East Rail line, also causing disruptions and delays.
“The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department has expressed grave concern over the occurrence of two engineering train-related incidents affecting train services within three months,” the department said in a statement released in the early hours of Monday.
“[It] will also initiate a special audit to holistically review [MTR Corp’s] maintenance emergency preparedness concerning engineering trains.”
According to the department, preliminary findings suggested that the incident on Sunday was due to an equipment fault that hindered the lifting platform from descending.
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