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Following is a transcript of the Secretary for Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao's meet-the-media session after speaking at a radio programme today (December 13):

Reporter: Was KCRC's delay in reporting the East Rail incident yesterday acceptable or not?

Dr Liao: Of course not. All trains should be run in a very straight time-table. Anything that goes wrong, the first thing is to inform the public through the media and they must inform our Transport Department.

Reporter: ....What can the Government do to ensure that this will not happen?

Dr Liao: We cannot guarantee a 100%, but whenever any delay occurs, there must be good communication and we are asking KCRC to investigate this incident and take appropriate measures. One of the (measures), in my opinion, is to step up the maintenance since the East Rail is a comparatively old rail and so we must be more vigilant in our inspection and maintenance.

Reporter: ..... How can you make sure similar confusion that we have seen would be prevented ......?

Dr Liao: As you know, the West Rail opening has been delayed a number of times. The reason is that KCRC has taken extra testing to ensure the reliability of the new rail and its safety and that all the standards are met. I am confident that they will be able to commission the West Rail surely and safely and punctually.

Reporter: What preparation for emergency has been made by the government?

Dr Liao: As you know, our Transport Department has an emergency response centre. All our stations will be activated on the first day. And also, all the existing transport systems will still be running. We will not be cancelling the existing bus routes, etc, until the rail has been running for some three months, I think.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion)

Ends/Saturday, December 13, 2003

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