MTR Corporation announced Thursday that the train incident this Monday was due to a buffer malfunction in the train coupler parts, saying a further investigation was still on the way.
Operations Director of MTR Corps Tony Lee Kar-yun said in a press briefing that the incident at Tseung Kwan O Line this week, which saw the train suddenly stops and cause over 1,500 passengers to evacuate, stemmed from a loosened buffer of a train coupler between sixth and seventh carriages.
Lee said the coupler and the buffer inside the parts were installed to connect two carriages. "However, according to our preliminary investigation, the buffer between the involved carriages was loosened during the incident, leading the train's emergency brake to function and stop the train."
He added that the train has not derailed after the incident, and the two train cars were still connected but the gangway linking the two cars was extended.
"We will keep conducting further investigation on the reason for the loosened component," Lee noted, "and inspecting other installations to ensure their normal operations."
MTR will submit a detailed investigation report to the government within two months.
