MTR Says Software Glitch Caused East Rail Chaos

The MTR says an investigation into January's disruption on the East Rail Line has determined the problem was caused by a hidden software error.

Services on the line were disrupted for about two hours, stranding 14 trains between stations and affecting tens of thousands of commuters.

The company said the error made the Train Control System generate an "invalid message" and crashed the system computer server and all workstations.

It said the programme error only emerged following the continuous increase in traffic demand over the past years. It said a number of measures had been taken to prevent a repeat of the incident, including a software patch to fix the programming error.

It also said the two systems managing train safety were unaffected.

The railway has been hit by a string of disruptions in recent months, after years of mostly problem-free service.

Last August services on the Kwun Tong line were affected twice within a few days, while trains on the East Rail Line were suspended for four hours in May.