TD continues to closely monitor KCR services

    The Transport Department (TD) announced today (January 15) that the Department had been closely monitoring the rail services of the Kowloon Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC), after the Corporation started to use manual operation to temporarily replace the Automatic Train Operation System.

     A TD spokesman said the KCRC used manual operation to temporarily replace the Automatic Train Operation System from 2 pm today.  The TD held a meeting with the KCRC today.  According to the Corporation, the manual operation only caused the train frequency (southbound) at the peak hour (from 8 am to 9 am) to be reduced by one departure (from 24 to 23), and the journey time of each train for the whole day between Lo Wu and Tsim Sha Tsui East lengthened by 1.5 minutes.  There would only be a mild impact on the passengers, according to the KCRC.

     The spokesman noted that the TD's Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre (ETCC) had been closely monitoring the train services.  The Department had already established a close liaison with the public transport operators.  When and where necessary, special public transport arrangements would be implemented to minimise the inconvenience that might be caused to members of the public.

     The TD had also maintained a close communication with the Immigration Department, operators of the Yellow Bus and cross-boundary transport, so that they could made appropriate arrangements accordingly.

     The TD spokesman stressed that since it would be a Monday and a working day tomorrow (January 16), he called on members of the public, especially those commuters traveling from the New Territories to the urban areas, to leave home earlier, and reserve more journey time to work or to school.  They were also advised to pay attention to the latest traffic news broadcast by the television and radio stations.

     The TD's ETCC would continue to closely monitor the train services tomorrow.

Ends/Sunday, January 15, 2006
Issued at HKT 18:07