Three hurt as light rail trains collide at Yuen Long station

The light rail service was disrupted for five hours after two trains collided at an interchange in Yuen Long Station yesterday morning, leaving three passengers with minor injuries.

The incident occurred at around 9.25am, after a route 761P light rail train - running between Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai with around 120 passengers on board - left platform 5 and crashed into a light rail train with no passengers, which had just departed platform 1.

The first cars of both trains were seen derailed after the collision. No one was trapped in the carriages, but three female passengers, aged from 46 to 76, sustained minor injuries on their arms and face. They were taken to Pok Oi Hospital in Yuen Long.

Services between Yuen Long and Tong Fong Tsuen were suspended after the accident and eventually resumed at around 2pm, when engineering staff drove the two trains back to the depot for further checks.

Routes 610, 614, 615, and 761P were diverted with free shuttle bus services, MTR said.

The railway giant said the accident might be caused by human factors, adding that engineering staff would conduct a thorough investigation.

This came less than three months after another light rail collision happened at the Tuen Mun Ferry stop interchange in July with no casualties, but service was disrupted.

However, New Territories North constituency lawmaker and former MTR engineer Gary Zhang Xinyu found the incident unacceptable, urging the railway company to step up the pace on installing a signal system at the light rail terminus to avoid a recurrence of similar accidents.

"The design of the light rail system itself doesn't rely on a signal system but the judgments of the captains," Zhang said.

"But we can use some new technologies to enhance the system, such as adding a traffic light at the terminus and platforms, so as to minimize human mistakes made by the captains."

Zhang also described the accident as a "similar edition" of the Tuen Mun collision in July, and added that there may be systemic risks in the whole MTR railway operation.

He called on authorities to establish a unified and professional railway watchdog to cater for new railway projects that will commence in the next few years.

Echoing Zhang, Tam Kin-chiu, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Railway Trade Unions, said there is no computer-controlled track at the exit of Yuen Long station.

"It could be one of the captains failing to see a train coming on the opposite side," Tam said.

He added that the MTR has planned to set up a signal system in the light rail service after the previous incident in July so that when a train leaves the station, trains on other platforms cannot move.