MTR 'not Sensitive' About Signalling System Fault

An investigation panel appointed by the MTR Corporation says the railway company has underestimated glitches in a new signalling system, which eventually led to the delay of a major system upgrade.

The probe showed MTR first learned about the issue in May, but did not resolve it until a train took the wrong route on September 11, forcing the MTRC to postpone the launch of the system originally scheduled for the next day.

The panel concluded that if MTR did a more detailed investigation earlier, it would have realised how complex the issue was and might have been able to report to its management and the government and avoid the delay.

But the probe cleared the railway company of allegations that it had covered up the glitches which prevented the system from being introduced to the East Rail Line and the future Shatin to Central Link.

During a press conference on Monday, the MTR’s CEO Jacob Kam said the problems have now been fixed, and the system will be put into operation on Saturday.

Kam admitted the rail company's engineers should have been more sensitive – but stressed that train safety was still guaranteed.

"The report has pointed out that the working team had underestimated the complexity of the issue, and also there was of course a lack of sensitivity to the public expectation of service quality," he explained.

"These combined underestimation had caused them to miss the best time to conduct detailed analysis of the problem, and miss the good opportunity to reporting both internally and externally about the issue and follow up."

He said a new dedicated team directly accountable to him will be set up to monitor the construction of the Shatin to Central link.

But he conceded the delay will have an impact on the opening of the cross-harbour section next year, and said the company will make announcements once it has an idea when the new line could adopt the new system.

The government – MTR's largest shareholder – issued a statement following the report, saying it reserves the rights to pursue liability.

“The government expresses grave disappointment that the incident has led to the postponement of the commissioning of the EAL [East Rail line] new signalling system and mixed-fleet operation, and possible deferral of the commissioning of the cross harbour section of the EAL, and reserves the right to take further actions against [MTR Corp],” said the statement.