Unsecured billboard panel made train doors fall off: MTR report

Two MTR train doors fell off at Causeway Bay station last month because a billboard panel was left unsecured and leaned out, according to MTR Corp. 

MTRCL on Thursday released the investigation report on the incident on December 2, 2021, where a Kennedy Town-bound Island Line train saw its first pair of doors facing the trackside wall fall off when it entered Platform 2 of Causeway Bay station. 

The investigation panel revealed that the mild scratches were found on the third to eighth car of a preceding train using the same platform, at a height matching the position of the convertible trackside billboard. 

It was found that a movable access panel for changing the billboard poster had been leaning out and hit the doors of the preceding train when it departed from the platform. 

About a minute later, when the train in question entered the platform, the unsecured access panel hit and dislodged its first pair of doors. 

The report added the access panel was supposed to be held in place by two locks, and there were also two stoppers as a fallback protection to prevent the access panel from leaning out. 

Yet, the access panel had probably not been properly latched and the stoppers were not able to hold the panel. Air suction effect from passing trains then caused the access panel to rattle and eventually lean out, according to the report. 

The report noted that the defective locks, ineffective stoppers, and actions to fix them were not carried out in time probably because the problems were not easily detected, adding that MTR did not explicitly request the contractor to check the conditions of the stoppers. 

The report then recommended the contractor enhance the procedures and training for its workers, and for MTRCL to strengthen its maintenance regime for trackside advertising panels.