Hong Kong rail giant MTR Corp says subcontractor Fang Sheung Construction did substandard work in Sha Tin-Central link platform scandal

Allegations come just a day after rail operator claimed it did not know who improperly installed steel bars, or why they did so, on its HK$97.1 billion project

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MTR Corporation projects director Philco Wong Nai-keung identified the subcontractors in the construction scandal. Photo: Winson Wong

Elizabeth Cheung,Ng Kang-chung,Alvin LumandZoe Law

Published: 12:45pm, 7 Jun 2018Updated: 10:45am, 8 Jun 2018

Hong Kong’s railway operator has singled out a subcontractor as the likely culprit behind the corner-cutting scandal which hit its HK$97.1 billion Sha Tin-Central rail link, just a day after claiming it did not know who did the shoddy work found on its platforms.

The U-turn came as lawmakers from across the political divide sought to launch an independent inquiry into the furore.

The MTR Corporation levelled the allegation against workers from Fang Sheung Construction, a subcontractor that handled steel bars on the city’s most expensive rail project, a day after the saying it did not know who cut them wrongly or why they did it.

The scandal centred on the installation of bars used for building a platform beneath Hung Hom station. They were found to have been cut to make it seem as if they had been screwed correctly into couplers on the platform, when they had not.

The platform at Hung Hom station in Kowloon, which forms part of the Sha Tin-Central rail link. Photo: Sam Tsang

On Thursday, MTR projects director Philco Wong Nai-keung said it was Fang Sheung workers who cut them, according to information from the rail operator’s staff monitoring the project.