Shatin Link Won't Open Till Safety Is Assured: CE

The Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday that the Shatin-Central Link of the MTR will not be opened until the safety of the signalling system is assured.

"Public safety is of primary concern. So we shall not rush to open the Shatin-Central Link or put in place this new signal system until we are assured of the safety," Lam said.

Two trains collided during a trial run of the signalling system on Monday. The contractor of the signalling system, Thales, said its experts have arrived in Hong Kong to assist the MTR with its investigation.

But a company executive, Mihai Lungu, declined to say anything about the collision, saying it was still not clear what actually happened. But when asked if he thought the crash was caused by the failure of the system, he replied: “No, I don’t.”

Roundtable lawmaker Michael Tien, meanwhile, called on the government to drop the company from the project, even if it means breaching the contract.

"It would be a breach of contract, but we have a totally legitimate reason," he said. "Unless if the company can prove that the incident on Monday morning was totally due to behaviour by MTR."

Tien, who is also a member of Legco's railway subcommittee, said the same company had supplied a system to Singapore's rail operator and they also had a crash, which left 38 people injured.

He also questioned why this company is being relied on to supply signalling systems for all rail lines in Hong Kong. "Now we are told that all the other railway existing lines and signalling upgrade contracts are also given to this company," the lawmaker said.

"The airport authority just told us that they have also won the new airport contract for a people-mover system. I find it bit ridiculous. So that all the mass transit system is in the hands of one software company. Aren't there any other software companies in the world? What's going on here?"

Tien told RTHK's Janice Wong that Hong Kong should not be putting all of its eggs in one basket.