MTR Trains Still Blocking Central Station

MTR services on the Tsuen Wan Line were again severely disrupted on Tuesday due to Monday's train crash near Central Station.

The rail company's operations director, Adi Lau, said the trains are still blocking the track and they don't know when they will be removed.

He said over 100 staff had been working to remove the wreckage since early Monday morning when a carriage of one of the trains derailed after the collision at a crossover of the line.

A software glitch has been blamed. The MTR Corporation's managing director, Jacob Kam, said engineers were switching to the back-up signalling system at the time of the collision.

Lau said early on Tuesday that "a significant milestone" had been made in the operation to reopen the Tsuen Wan Line fully.

He said they had separated the trains "to create a space for the rescue team" to try to lift the derailed carriage back on the track.

"This process is very challenging and because of the limited space inside the tunnel, we cannot use very heavy lifting equipment to help," Lau told a news conference at Central Station.

He said the MTR Corporation would be meeting its contractor on Tuesday to see if there's a more efficient way to handle the wreckage of the trains.

"Not until we have successfully put back ... the car of the train onto the rail it will be very difficult for us to assess when the process can be completed," Lau said,

Until then, the Tsuen Wan Line between Admiralty and Central will remain shut, while trains on the rest of the line are operating at only just above half of the usual rush-hour frequency, or once every 3.5 minutes.