Sabotage Suspected Over East Rail Line Disruption

Police were called in on Sunday to investigate damage to an overhead power cable for the MTR's East Rail Line, over fears vandals had deliberately thrown a massive metal handrail onto the tracks.

The 17-metre-long rail appeared to have been torn from a footbridge near Tai Wo Station in Tai Po.

Early morning train services on the line were disrupted due to damage to the power cable, which the MTR said had happened at around 5am.

Trains stopped running between Tai Po Market and Fanling, while they ran at reduced intervals between Tai Po Market and Hung Hom, as well as between Fanling and the border.

Railway staff removed the handrail and repaired the power cable, and officials said services started to return to normal shortly after 6am.

Around an hour later, the corporation reported the damage to the police.

Officers said they suspected somebody had deliberately removed the handrail from the footbridge and thrown it onto the power cable.

The case was classified as one of criminal damage.

______________________________