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Following is a question by the Hon Audrey Eu and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (March 22):
Question:
Regarding incidents of passengers falling onto the railway track, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of such incidents each year since 1997, with a breakdown by the following details:
(i) whether the incident happened during peak hours;
(ii) the name of the station and the platform number involved;
(iii) the number of cars of the train involved;
(iv) duration of interruption of train service;
(v) the age group (in bands of five years) and gender of the passenger concerned;
(vi) cause of the incident (trespassing onto the track, accident, attempted suicide or suicide); and
(vii) casualties of the passengers concerned (unhurt, injured or killed);
(b) with regard to stations along the MTR lines, East Rail and West Rail where platform screen doors/gates have been retrofitted, of the respective completion dates of such works;
(c) whether it knows if the two railway corporations have
(i) put in place plans to prevent passengers from falling onto the railway track; if they have, of the specific details of the plans; if not, the reasons for that; and
(ii) provided psychological counselling to staff who witnessed such incidents; if they have; of the details; and
(d) whether it has assessed if the two railway corporations have provided adequate training to their staff on preventing passengers from falling onto the railway track, for example, whether such training include identifying passengers who intend to commit suicide by jumping onto the railway track?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) Information regarding incidents involving passengers falling onto the railway track since 1997 is at Annex.
(b) Platform Screen Doors (PSDs) were first introduced in Hong Kong by MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) as a new feature of the Airport Railway, which commenced service in 1998. With the satisfactory performance of PSDs on the Airport Railway, MTRCL then decided to adopt PSDs as a standard feature for new railway projects, including the Tseung Kwan O Line commissioned in 2002. Automatic Platform Gates (APGs) were also installed at stations of the Disneyland Resort Line which was commissioned in 2005. For the existing 30 underground stations, MTRCL has started a phased PSD retrofitting programme from mid 2001. MTRCL will complete the retrofitting project by the first half of 2006.
For Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC), PSDs have been installed at stations adopting an enclosed design, that is, all stations of the West Rail and the East Tsim Sha Tsui Station of East Rail which commenced operation in 2003 and 2004 respectively.
(c)(i) Both railway Corporations consider passenger safety their primary responsibility. They have adopted the following safety devices and arrangements in its daily operation to ensure the safety of passengers awaiting trains at platforms:
(i) public announcements are made to advise passengers on approaching trains and remind them not to stand beyond the yellow line (at platforms without PSDs);
(ii) CCTV cameras are installed at every station platform to facilitate effective platform monitoring and management;
(iii) station staff and additional platform assistants are deployed to maintain order and provide assistance to passengers at platforms especially during peak hours;
(iv) passenger help lines and emergency train stop buttons are installed at each platform (except that of Light Rail) for emergency use; and
(v) passenger safety education/publicity activities are conducted regularly.
For KCRC East Rail stations, the following measures have also been put in place to strengthen platform safety:
(i) flashing lights, of which the colour will be changed regularly, are installed at the edge of curved platforms to alert passengers to the gap between platform and train;
(ii) additional platform assistants are deployed at stations with high Mainland visitor traffic such as Lo Wu, Sheung Shui, Kowloon Tong and Hung Hom stations during evening and nighttime; and
(iii) safety promotional materials are distributed to visitors arriving Hong Kong at Lo Wu station.
(c)(ii) As regards psychological counselling to staff, MTRCL have made arrangements with a non-government organisation to operate a round-the-clock dedicated hotline to provide counselling for its staff and their family members. Depending on the situation, the Corporation will also arrange professional counsellors to provide individual counselling sessions for the staff concerned.
For KCRC, train opeartors involved in such incidents will be arranged to attend counselling sessions conducted by experts. Counselling will also be provided to other frontline staff handling the incidents as necessary.
(d) For MTRCL, regular refresher training programmes are provided to station staff, including station assistants and train operators, to remind them to stay alert and vigilant at all times when performing platform duties. These include observing the behaviour, in particular any strange or unusual symptoms, of passengers awaiting trains at platforms without PSDs, such as those deliberately stand beyond the yellow line, looked depressed, strolling along edges of the platform.
KCRC also provides station staff with training and refresher courses on crisis handling and first aid. Moreover, the Corporation is working with the University of Hong Kong to develop a suicide prevention training programme for all frontline staff with a view to developing their skills in suicide prevention and intervention. The training programme is expected to commence in May this year.
Ends/Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:35
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