Hong Kong rail operator working overnight to repair station damage after front train carriage veers off tracks
- Front carriage of train derailed when it hit ‘metal devices’ next to tracks, operator says
- Company will hire outside experts to investigate, while Electrical and Mechanical Services Department will also look into what went wrong
Emergency work to repair damage at Yau Ma Tei station would continue throughout the night, Hong Kong’s railway operator said on Sunday evening, after the front carriage of an MTR train derailed when it hit “metal devices” next to the tracks.
MTR Corporation bosses said workers were rushing to finish the job, hopefully in time to meet the Monday morning rush hour, after the accident that tore off two sets of train doors, forced the evacuation of hundreds of passengers, and knocked out services on part of the Tsuen Wan line for the rest of the day.
The company said it would hire external experts to investigate and apologised to the public over the incident, which also left two passengers injured.
“We have observed that the train collided with metal devices placed next to the rail track and caused a derailment,” operations director Tony Lee Ka-yun said, adding the damaged train returned to the depot at around 10pm.
“We will continue the repairs after stations are closed … Service cannot be resumed for Sunday night.”
Operation between Lai King station and Jordan was suspended, and the company arranged for shuttle buses to run between stops affected. Trains were running every eight minutes between Lai King and Tsuen Wan, and every six minutes between Jordan and Central.
