Hong Kong MTR train carrying passengers derails during morning rush hour, 3 injured

HONG KONG, Sep 17, 2019, AFP, Bloomberg. A passenger train derailed during the morning rush hour in Hong Kong on Tuesday (Sept 17) leaving three people injured, the authorities said. Images from the scene showed three carriages had left the tracks and were zigzagged across the rails near Hung Hom station in Kowloon – a busy interchange that provides services to mainland China, reported The Straits Times.

Passengers had to leave the train through a broken door and cross tracks on the East Rail Line to make their way to safety.

The subway operator MTR said on its website that train services near Hung Hom station had been suspended and the company urged commuters to use other means of transport.

The company said trains on the West Rail Line between Hung Hom and Tuen Mun were running at 12-minute intervals, and that service had been adjusted in order to maintain smooth operations on the East Rail Line.

The cause of the incident wasn’t immediately clear but the company has been a target of demonstrators lately.

Many of its facilities have been smashed and protesters set fires outside stations, which have often served as battlefields between demonstrators and police.

In March, two Hong Kong subway trains collided during a test run of a new signalling system, resulting in two drivers being hospitalised.

Months earlier, a simultaneous signalling glitch on four subway lines caused chaos at stations during the morning peak-hour rush.

MTR shares fell as much as 2.1 per cent to HK$45.80 on Tuesday.

This is the latest setback for a company whose facilities have been vandalised – protesters have smashed windows and set fires outside stations – during the months-long anti-Beijing protests in Hong Kong.