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Train services resume on MTR East Rail line after Hong Kong derailment

South China Morning Post

發布於 2019年09月18日03:09 • Zoe Low
  • One platform reopens at Hung Hom station, but disruption ongoing with cross-border travel also affected
  • Services returning after three carriages came off the track on Tuesday morning, injuring eight passengers
Rail engineers try to lift a carriage back on track near Hung Hom as part of the effort to get services up and running again for Wednesday morning. Photo: Sam Tsang
Rail engineers try to lift a carriage back on track near Hung Hom as part of the effort to get services up and running again for Wednesday morning. Photo: Sam Tsang

Services on the MTR East Rail line around Hung Hom partially resumed ahead of Wednesday's rush hour after a train derailed near the station a day ago.

One platform has reopened at the major interchange, which was closed for nearly 24 hours after several carriages of a commuter train came off the track on Tuesday morning.

Some trains on the line from the Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau border districts terminate at Hung Hom, but the service ends at Mong Kok East station for others.

The incident was still having a significant impact on cross-border rail travel, with only a third of the nine return trains to and from Guangzhou operating on Wednesday morning.

The derailment on Tuesday was the most serious in Hong Kong in two decades, with five passengers taken to hospital.

Services have returned to the area on Wednesday after the derailment near Hung Hom station on Photo: Felix Wong
Services have returned to the area on Wednesday after the derailment near Hung Hom station on Photo: Felix Wong

On Wednesday morning, trains from Hung Hom to Mong Kok East station were running at regular seven-minute intervals.

Trains leave Mong Kok East for Lo Wu station every 3 1/2 minutes, while passengers going to Lok Ma Chau must change at Tai Po Market station, where trains are running at 12-minute intervals.

The wreckage of the derailed carriages had been cleared by morning, with one track remaining closed and blocked off with orange netting.

The cause of the derailment is not yet known, although the government and rail operator MTR Corporation have vowed to conduct a "thorough investigation" and would not rule out any possible cause.

MTR scrambles to restore services after derailment as government vows probe

As the morning rush hour began, passengers began returning to platform four, where trains to Lo Wu station at the border had resumed services.

However, platform one remains closed, with a cordon blocking off escalators. The derailed train was sat at the closed Hung Hom-Lo Wu platform.

A platform at Hung Hom remained closed early on Wednesday but another one had reopened as services returned to the interchange. Photo: Nora Tam
A platform at Hung Hom remained closed early on Wednesday but another one had reopened as services returned to the interchange. Photo: Nora Tam

Services were shut down on Tuesday when three carriages of a 12-car train heading to the terminus came off the track, injuring eight of the 500 passengers on board.

About 200 staff were working overnight to remove carriages and carry out safety checks and repair work, the MTR Corporation said on Tuesday.

A passenger waiting at the station on Wednesday, who gave her surname as Lee, said the rail operator had done "fairly well" in returning services.

"However, some small details, for example signage on the concourse to tell passengers which platform to go to, is a little lacking," the clerk in her 40s added.

Lee, who was making her way to the Science Park in Sha Tin, said the derailment did not affect her trust in the city's rail system, but added: "The MTR has been around for years now, it's probably time to upgrade the trains and the tracks."

Meanwhile, three northbound and three southbound trains between Hung Hom and Guangzhou East in mainland China had resumed services on Tuesday following the derailment disruption.

This means only a third of the nine return cross-border trains were operating on Wednesday morning.

The shuttle bus service from Tai Wai Station to Diamond Hill, which started on Tuesday after the derailment, has stopped.

Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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