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MTR Corp blames Thales for crash that closed section of Tsuen Wan line for two days – but government slams over reliance on French contractor

  • Rail operator says mistakes made implementing software on new signalling system led to unprecedented accident
  • March 18 crash left driver injured and train carriages badly damaged

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MTR staff carry out repairs after the crash between Central and Admiralty station. Photo: Handout

Hong Kong’s embattled rail operator has blamed a contractor for an unprecedented crash during an overnight test of a new signalling system, but the government has slammed it for being too reliant on the outsider.

Two trains collided at a crossover junction near Central station in the early hours of March 18. One driver was hurt and the service between two major stations, Admiralty and Central on the Tsuen Wan line, was suspended for two days.

Revealing the findings of a three-month investigation into the accident on Friday, the MTR Corporation laid the blame squarely at the feet of the contractor, French multinational Thales, which it said made three errors when implementing a software change in 2017.

The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department said the findings aligned with its own probe, but pointed out “the MTR Corp should avoid being overreliant on the contractor and ought to be extra vigilant at all times.”

The department revealed that the corporation’s independent safety accessor sent two warnings that it did not believe the new system met international standards and it had significant concerns about the compliance of the contractor’s software development process.

This prompted MTR Corp to postpone the installation of the new system by six months to the end of this year.

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