Public transport 'on brink of collapse'

Public transport is on the brink of collapse with more than 2,000 MTR workers - 20 percent of the rail operator's strength - unable to report for duty due to Covid-19 infections or being in quarantine.

Bus operators are meanwhile suspending nearly 100 routes, including heavily used ones across busy districts.

And among ferry operators Fortune has halted service between Hung Hom and Central.

Lam Wai-keung, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Railway Trade Unions, said the Tuen Ma, Island and Tsuen Wan lines were close to being shut down, and the Tung Chung Line was also threatened

"Railway services are now relying on staffers working overtime or cancelling their holidays to maintain operations, while train captains of the Airport Express are already working 12 hours a day," Lam said.

A train captain on the Tsuen Wan Line, Leung Chi-shing, said MTR Corp executives and managers had tried everything in the book to increase manpower, including asking staff to "sell" their holidays for extra compensation.

"If the situation gets worse some of the customer service counters might have to be closed," Leung added. "Citizens will have to figure it out themselves if they have ticketing issues."

Dozens of train captains have been unable to report for work on many lines, while on the Tung Chung Line around 30 percent of the manpower on the route was infected or in quarantine.

And with variations in signaling systems, it was not simply a question of transferring train captains and other key personnel to other lines.

Meanwhile, contingency plans that include closures of some stations have been drawn up.

"The MTRC already has experience in closing stations during the 2019 social movement," a source noted, "but it can maintain services on routes."

The corporation is also considering sending management staff to work at stations and take up other essential positions.

Planners are also looking into employing retired staff, though that idea has yet to reach a planning stage.

The MTRC, meanwhile, announced that 1,700 staff and contractors had contracted Covid, while others were unable to work after being listed as close contacts.

Also yesterday, the Transport Department announced it was allowing the five bus companies to temporarily suspend 98 bus routes starting from today until March 16, including some well-used ones.

The department explained that it had taken into consideration the number of drivers absent from work, a nosedive in patronage and alternative transportation means available to commuters.

Lai Siu-chung, director of Motor Transport Workers General Union's KMB branch, said 88 of the suspended routes belong to the operator.

Some are popular routes running from Tsim Sha Tsui Pier or between public housing estates. "It will have a great impact on passengers as they will have to take other bus routes or even use other means of transport," Lai said.

"According to my understanding, the number of infected staff has been climbing continuously, and the infected include bus captains and terminus supervisors."

While Fortune Ferry suspended its service running between Hung Hom and Central from yesterday, two other routes the company runs - between North Point and Kwun Tong and between Kwun Tong and Kai Tak - are expected to be halted on Tuesday.

That would mean all services between the North Point and Hung Hom ferry piers and Runway Park Pier at Kai Tak will be suspended.

And yesterday saw James Ockenden, founder of Transit Jam - a publication focusing on sustainable transport in Hong Kong - arguing that more effort was needed to keep the SAR moving.

Transport workers were essential and should not be treated as general citizens, he said.

So with rapid antigen tests more widely available, he suggested shortening the quarantine for close contacts and to "use every technology and innovation" to get transport workers back to work.