MTR Upgrade May Lead To Disruption, Bosses Warn

The MTR Corporation said on Thursday that the introduction of a new signalling system in the coming months could lead to some disruption of services.

The new system, being introduced on several lines in phases, promises to improve service stability and will allow the railway operator to increase the number of train journeys.

But this might not be the case during an initial transition period, MTR officials warned, when the new system will operate alongside the current one to make sure the switchover goes to plan.

The new signalling system will first come into use on the Tsuen Wan Line. Tests are in the final stages, officials said, and it will go live before the summer.

At a media briefing, Lu Wong, the MTR's general manager of rolling stock fleet, said there will be a risk of disruption to services because the signalling upgrade is such a big undertaking.

However, Adi Lau, the rail operator's operations director, says the new CBTC system will increase the number of train journeys and improve service stability:

After the Tsuen Wan Line, the East Rail Line will be the next one to move to the new system, with the corporation saying this should happen by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, despite criticism over a number of service disruptions last year, the operator said that 99.9 percent of its MTR train journeys were classed as being "on time" in 2018. "On time" means the train is no more than five minutes late.

The MTR Corporation said this was despite the problems brought by Severe Typhoon Mangkhut in September, and it was their second best annual performance since the MTR merged with the KCR in 2007.