Commuter chaos in HK after trains crash during trial run
HONG KONG : A train collision disrupted services in Hong Kong yesterday, unleashing commuter chaos during rush hour in the heart of the Asian financial hub, the authorities said.
The rare disruption on a network used by nearly six million people every weekday brought services to a halt between the stations of Central and Admiralty, Reuters quoted the rail operator MTR Corp as saying.
The trains carried no passengers at the time of the collision during the trial run of a new signalling system. Two drivers were taken to hospital, one with a leg injury and the other suffering from smoke inhalation.
"The repair will take quite a long time and the service between Central and Admiralty ... will not be available for the whole day," its operations director Lau Tin Shing told a news briefing.
Photos released by MTR showed damaged train cabins with doors unhinged. Shattered glass was strewn across the cabin floor. One train was seen tilted up on one side and detached from the track, The Straits Times reported.
The manufacturer of the software for the city's rail network services apologised yesterday.
In a statement, Thales said it was "deeply sorry" that a driver had been hurt, adding that it would support the ongoing investigation into the collision of the two trains.- REUTERS
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