Hong Kong’s MTR Corp may face HK$19.2 million fine for 5-hour service disruption

Hong Kong rail giant the MTR Corporation may face a penalty of HK$19.2 million (US$2.4 million) for a five-hour service suspension on the Tseung Kwan O line caused by malfunctions on Thursday, with the firm under mounting pressure to overhaul overhead cables and speed up inspections using technology.

Lawmaker Gary Zhang Xinyu said on Friday that a delay of three to four hours would incur a fine of HK$9.6 million under a penalty mechanism, with the amount increasing the longer the halt lasted. Each extra hour of delay will cost the MTR Corp HK$4.8 million.

“This will come to about HK$19.2 million, which is my estimate,” Zhang said, adding that “part of an hour would also be charged as an hour” given the delay was just over five hours.

“I know that the engineering staff took a long time to decipher what went wrong. To improve on this, we could use more real-time data analysis and more sensors that provide real-time data to help staff identify problems faster.”

Zhang added that the sensors were still being tested by the MTR Corp and were not yet installed network-wide, urging the corporation to enhance efforts in the area and have a comprehensive system designed around it.

Both the power supply and signalling system suffered malfunctions on Thursday afternoon. The rail operator said that its preliminary investigation had found that the breakdown was triggered by a displaced overhead cable component in a tunnel section that led to a short circuit.

The rush-hour service suspension caused long queues outside Tiu Keng Leng station, with hundreds of passengers waiting for shuttle services. Crowds also packed pavements outside North Point station as commuters waited for public buses and taxis.