MTR train’s door failed to close at Sha Tin station, affecting around 100 passengers

An East Rail line train departing from Sha Tin station left both sides of doors open as passengers boarded from the platform on Christmas morning. Around 100 passengers were asked to take the next train with no injuries reported.

MTR apologized for the inconvenience and announced that the train captain had been suspended from driving duties.

The company stated that the captain opened the doors on the platform side around 5 am for passengers to board, but he failed to notice that the opposite doors remained open after routine pre-departure testing.

The captain immediately closed the doors once he noticed the train had remained stationary, as the safety system had detected the open door.

MTR has reported the incident to the government, as preliminary investigations suggest that the train was operating normally and that human factors might have been involved.

Speaking at a radio program today, engineer and lawmaker Gary Zhang Xinyu believed that the incident was not caused by mechanical failure, but rather an operational mistake, as the train captain forgot to close the doors after inspecting the train.

He also suggested that MTR enhances training on regulatory and operational processes for pre-departure checks to minimize human error, despite the testing being automatically completed by the system.