MTR Bosses Blame Track Designer For Derailment

The MTR Corporation on Monday said the consultant who designed its express rail link depot in Shek Kong was to blame for a track problem which led to a train partially derailing last month during a test-run.

The corporation's Chief of Operating, Francis Li, said a probe into the incident has found that greater-than-expected pressure was exerted on the slightly curved section of track as trains passed over it, causing beams underneath the track to become deformed.

Four wheels of the final carriage of one train were found to have slipped off the tracks after it returned to the depot.

Li said the flawed design was only used at that particular section of track and it would be changed as soon as possible.

"We have now four maintenance tracks to serve the high-speed XRL project and in fact, at the initial stage of operations, we don't need so many maintenance tracks to carry out the maintenance."

The chairman of Legco's railways subcommittee, former KCR chairman Michael Tien, said the design problem was completely unacceptable.

"Clearly, it's a major, major act of negligence or act of unprofessionalism. However the MTR never mentioned what penalty they are going to do," Tien said.

"In the past 20 years, 90-something percent of all the major infrastructural projects in Hong Kong have been awarded to two design consultants. I think it's time we really need to introduce competition."