MTR chief Frederick Ma hits back at ‘illogical and unfair’ criticism over derailing incident and defends fare increase

MTR Corporation chairman put positive spin on incident, saying it was good to find problems so soon after testing had begun

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Frederick Ma defended the MTR’s response when a train “shifted out of position” in the depot on Tuesday night. Photo: Edward Wong

Published: 3:34pm, 7 Apr 2018Updated: 11:34pm, 7 Apr 2018

The head of Hong Kong’s rail operator has called accusations the company attempted to cover-up a derailing incident “unwise, illogical and unfair”.

“The incident occurred after 9pm and we issued a press release around 3am the next morning. Isn’t that fast enough?” MTR Corporation chairman Frederick Ma Si-hang said, referring to a train that “shifted out of position” in the depot on Tuesday night.

The MTR immediately suspended tests on the long-awaited high-speed rail link to Guangzhou until checks were complete, although lawmaker Michael Tien was sceptical of the decision.

Speaking on the radio on Saturday, Ma played down the severity of the incident and even tried to apply a positive spin.

MTR Corporation chairman Frederick Ma pledged the MTR would not compromise on safety. Photo: David Wong

“It was, in fact, a good thing to find out a problem just three days after the trial began, because we can work on it immediately,” he said. “But this should not affect the commissioning date, set for end of September.”

The MTR had arranged an on-site inspection from the manufacturer – state-owned Qingdao Sifang – the next day, Ma revealed, while all the relevant government departments had also turned up.