Morning Of Chaos As Protesters Disrupt Trains

Passengers on the MTR's Kwun Tong and Island lines faced severe delays and cancelled services for more than three hours on Tuesday morning as anti-extradition protesters took part in disruptive activities intended to press home their demands.

The MTR Corporation urged people to consider other transport means. It said some trains would miss certain stations and empty trains would be sent to relieve overcrowding.

Soon after 10am, trains between Causeway Bay and Tai Koo stations on the Island Line were suspended, with trains between other stations running every five minutes. About 45 minutes later, Tai Koo reopened, but trains as far as Quarry Bay remained suspended.

As of 11am, trains between Tiu Keng Leng and Kwun Tong were beginning to operate again after being suspended for about three hours. Trains between Kwun Tong and Whampoa had been running every four minutes. Shuttle bus services operated between Tiu Keng Leng and Kwun Tong, but passengers reported facing long waits.

At around 11:20am, the MTR said services on the Island Line were also resuming.

A black-clad passenger, presumed to be a protester, began preventing doors from closing at Tiu Keng Leng not long after 7.30am, the time protesters said they would begin their action.

Police officers were at the scene.

Some passengers said that most of the protesters had left Tiu Keng Leng by 9am, yet trains remained in the station and services did not resume.

Reports online said train drivers were also planning to strike on Tuesday morning. But there were no reports of any such action.

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