Hong Kong authorities have demanded that railway operator the MTR Corporation (MTRC) appear before the legislature on Monday to report on the five-hour service disruption during Thursday’s rush hour.
Train service on the Tseung Kwan O Line was completely halted for more than three hours starting around 5.14pm on Thursday following a “power failure,” according to the MTRC on Thursday afternoon.
Train service between Tiu Keng Leng and Yau Tong stations partially resumed at around 8.40pm, but the harbour-crossing section between North Point and Yau Tong stations remained suspended for nearly two more hours.
Some passengers reported hearing a loud explosion on an MTR train travelling from Quarry Bay to Yau Tong shortly after 5pm on Thursday, according to Ming Pao.
The service suspension caused passengers to be stranded at stations along the line, while road traffic was heavily disrupted.
Train service was fully resumed at around 10.33pm, according to the MTRC. The company said in a statement, published shortly after 11pm, that the service failure was due to a “power supply disruption” between North Point and Tiu Keng Leng stations.
Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said in a Facebook post at around 11pm that she was “extremely concerned” about the “multiple and consecutive incidents” happened with the MTR in recent months.
Chan requested the MTRC to conduct a full inspection of its trains after service on Thursday and to ensure smooth operation on Friday morning.
She also demanded that the MTRC attend a Legislative Council panel meeting on Monday to present a report on the incident.
At a press conference shortly after service resumed, senior management members of the MTRC said the power supply disruption was caused by tripped circuit breakers in the electrical systems.
“Our preliminary investigation found that the relevant overhead cable had components showing signs of short circuits,” Lee Kim-hung, MTRC’s chief of operations engineering maintenance, said in Cantonese.
Lee said passengers had reported flashes, smoke, and noise outside the train as it was travelling between Quarry Bay and Yau Tong. He said that engineers at the MTRC believed these were also caused by the short circuits.
Cheris Lee, chief of operating and metro segment of the MTRC, said the incident took place during rush hour and apologised for causing inconvenience to passengers.
She added that around 130 staff were deployed to handle the incident.
The service disruption on Thursday was the third incident this year to cause train delays. On February 5 and April 27, two separate incidents involving engineering trains caused service disruptions on the East Rail Line.
The complete suspension on Thursday is expected to cost the MTRC tens of millions of dollars in penalties under a “service performance rebate” mechanism, which was revamped in 2023.
The mechanism states that the MTRC will have to pay HK$9.6 million for any delay of up to four hours during rush hour, and that any additional hour of delay will cost the company an extra HK$4.8 million. The money will be refunded to passengers through a fare promotion.
