MTR focuses on advert panels after severed door drama

MTR officials say they have removed a component from several advertising panels after a carriage door was ripped off a train in Causeway Bay on Thursday evening.

Officials said on Friday that they believe a loose component caused the incident which led to serious disruption on the Island Line during the evening rush hour.

They said the component in question had since been removed from eight advertising panels in Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok and Admiralty stations. Workers were to inspect and reinforce other advertising boards, they added.

The rail company’s chief of operating, Sammy Wong, said that following an overnight investigation, they had ruled out a design flaw with the train door as being the cause of the incident.

He told an RTHK programme that they are now focusing on the design and conditions of an advertising panel on the line, as well as the procedures for changing advertising posters.

“Our records show the last poster change was on Thursday last week. As to why and how the component got loose, we would need a thorough investigation,” Wong said.

“The contractor is responsible for the daily maintenance of the advertising panel and changing posters. We are looking at whether the incident was related to the operation as well as the panel’s design and conditions.”

Meanwhile, a former council member of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, Henry Cheung, said he believed human error could be to blame for the incident.

“Is it possible the contractor wasn’t thorough enough in meeting the MTR’s safety requirements? It requires the MTR to investigate. The cause of the incident may involve human error,” Cheung told the same RTHK programme.

“It’s possible that the component wasn’t properly installed and after a day of trains going past it and with vibrations, it became loose.”

Cheung said the doors of MTR trains are safe, but people should not lean on them.