Close call at Sha Tin station sparks push for more training

Charlotte Lam

Legislative Council member Gary Zhang Xinyu has called for MTR Corp to enhance staff training to prevent human errors.

His comments followed an incident on Wednesday morning when doors of an East Rail line train were left open as it was about to depart from Sha Tin station. Fortunately, no passengers were injured.

The incident occurred around 5.30 am after the captain completed pre-departure inspections and allowed around 100 passengers to board. However, station staff alerted him to the fact that the track-side doors had remained open.

The captain promptly directed passengers to disembark and take the next train.

As a precaution, the MTR has reassigned the captain from driving duties.

Zhang, who chairs the subcommittee on railway matters, said the incident stemmed from human error rather than mechanical failure.

He suggested the driver might have opened doors on both sides as part of a routine check but forgot to close the track-side doors after allowing passengers to board.

"This was the first train from Sha Tin to Lo Wu. The captain needed to inspect major equipment, including the gates," he said. "He likely forgot to close the doors facing the tracks after the inspection."

Zhang added that while the train's starting system operates automatically, human intervention is still necessary for some tasks such as the opening and closing of doors.

"The captain did not notice the issue immediately, allowing passengers to enter while the rail-facing door remained open. It was only after other station staff alerted him that he closed it."

To prevent a recurrence, Zhang recommended improvements in training and system design.

"Human error is unavoidable in large-scale operations but the MTR can minimize these risks by enhancing training and updating system designs," he said.

He also proposed future design modifications to further reduce errors.

"Currently, all stations have platform screen doors that remain closed during inspections. Implementing a system that prevents both sides of the train doors from opening simultaneously when the screen door is activated seems feasible."