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Following is a question by the Hon Wong Sing-chi and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, at the Legislative Council meeting today (June 8):
Question:
Regarding the railway service and incidents of the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL), will the Government inform this Council :
(a) whether it knows the respective average daily patronage, average peak hour patronage and occupancy rate, as well as average off-peak patronage and occupancy rate on the various railway alignments in each year since 2005, with a breakdown by year;
(b) whether it knows the respective numbers of incidents of service being delayed for more than eight minutes, 30 minutes and one hour on various railway alignments since 2010, as well as the numbers of passengers affected, with a breakdown by cause of the incidents of delay in service for over eight minutes to 30 minutes, over 30 minutes to one hour, and over one hour respectively, set out in a table;
(c) whether it knows the details of the incidents in (a) (set out as follows);
Date of incident; Time of incident; Line affected; Cause of incident and investigation findings; Remedial actions and improvement measures taken; Duration of service delay(minute)
(d) whether the authorities had examined in the past three years the establishment of a penalty and compensation mechanism in respect of railway incidents, e.g. stopping payment of bonuses to the Chief Executive Officer and relevant staff at managerial level of MTRCL, as well as providing compensation to the passengers affected by the incidents; if yes, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(e) given that in reply to the question of a Member of this Council on June 2, 2010, the Secretary for Transport and Housing stated that "[s]ince the rail merger, the MTRCL has invested $4 billion each year in the maintenance, repair and renewal of its railway assets in order to maintain high quality railway services and enhance service performance", whether it knows, in each year since 2005:
(i) details of MTRCL's work in areas such as maintenance of service quality, enhancement of service performance, as well as maintenance, repair and renewal of its railway assets, and the respective percentages of the expenditure incurred in the aforesaid expenditure of $4 billion, with a breakdown by year; and
(ii) the respective allocation of resources such as manpower and time by MTRCL for the aforesaid jobs, with a breakdown by year?
Reply:
President,
(a) From 2005 to 2010, the daily average patronage and loading rate of different railway lines of the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) is set out at Annex 1.
(b) Since the Rail Merger on December 2, 2007, the performance of MTR train service has remained very satisfactory, with 99.9% of passengers reaching their destinations within five minutes of their scheduled arrival times.
According to the information provided by MTRCL, from 2010 to first quarter of 2011, the total number of MTR railway incidents with delays of eight minutes to 30 minutes, more than 30 minutes to one hour, and over one hour is set out in the following tables. MTRCL takes each and every incident causing delay seriously. All incidents are investigated with a view to enhancing improvements in passenger service and reliability of train service.
Delays of 8 minutes to 30 minutes
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Causes/Year 2010 1st quarter of 2011
(No. of cases) (No. of cases)
Equipment Failure 138 39
Human Factor 20 8
Passenger Behaviour
and External Event 94 35
Total 252 82
Delays of more than 30 minutes to one hour
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Causes/Year 2010 1st quarter of 2011
(No. of cases) (No. of cases)
Equipment Failure 3 1
Human Factor 1 1
Passenger Behaviour
and External Event 8 1
Total 12 3
Delays of over one hour
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Causes/Year 2010 1st quarter of 2011
(No. of cases) (No. of cases)
Equipment Failure 2 1
Human Factor 0 0
Passenger Behaviour
and External Event 1 0
Total 3 1
(c) From 2010 to the first quarter of 2011, a list of each MTR railway incidents with delays of eight minutes is set out in Annex 2.
(d) MTRCL has an established mechanism to formulate its remuneration policy as well as the remuneration of its directors and senior management. MTRCL's remuneration policy aims to ensure that the remuneration level is appropriate and consistent with the established goals and business performance. Therefore, MTRCL will consider a number of factors, including the overall performance of the Corporation, personal responsibilities, job scope and performance, market practice and remuneration offered by similar companies, etc.
A Remuneration Committee has been set up under the Board of MTRCL. The Remuneration Committee is responsible for scrutinising the remuneration policy and making recommendations to the Board. It is also authorised to review and determine the remuneration packages of the Chief Executive Officer and other Members of the Executive Directorate.
(e) According to the information provided by MTRCL, since the rail merger (i.e. from 2008 to 2010), MTRCL has invested HK$4 billion each year in the maintenance, repair and renewal of railway assets in order to maintain high quality railway service and enhance facility performance. From 2008 to 2010, the allocation of the investment and the human resources deployed are set out as follows -
Category 2008 2009 2010
-------- ---- ---- ----
Maintenance of service
quality (including on-going
maintenance and asset
replacement capital projects)
(HK$ billion) 3.117 3.103 3.326
Enhancement of facility
performance (including service
improvement projects)
(HK$ billion) 0.722 1.127 1.332
Improvement projects incurred
from Rail Merger
(HK$ billion) 0.239 0.062 0.005
Total (HK$ billion) 4.078 4.292 4.663
Human Resources
(Number of staff) 4 296 4 500 4 613
In maintaining service quality, MTRCL carries out preventive and corrective maintenance works in different areas including civil engineering structures, railway tracks, signalling system, power supply system, overhead lines, passenger trains, engineering trains and buses, etc. These maintenance works include inspection, maintenance, cleaning and asset replacement, and are carried out according to an established regular maintenance schedule.
From 2008 to 2010, facilities enhancements introduced by MTRCL and the enhancements implemented as a result of the rail merger are briefly set out below -
2008
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To provide more comfortable journeys to passengers, MTRCL has added five new trains of seven cars each to run on the West Rail Line. In addition, MTRCL has purchased 10 new trains to enhance train frequency on existing lines, with a view to catering for the ongoing patronage growth of Island Line, Kwun Tong Line, Tsuen Wan Line and Tseung Kwan O Line.
MTRCL has planned to retrofit automatic platform gates at eight aboveground stations on the Island Line, Tsuen Wan Line and Kwun Tong Line. MTRCL also provided in-train Wi-Fi service on the Airport Express, and commenced the installation of an external lift at Tai Wo Hau Station connecting the nearby footbridge and the station concourse, as well as the planning of the installation of lifts at Sham Shui Po, Wong Tai Sin, Jordan, and Yau Ma Tei stations.
2009
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MTRCL has completed the refurbishment of Airport Express trains, and the installation of wide gates at all stations of the East Rail Line (except Racecourse Station) to improve accessibility for wheelchair users. New entrances at Olympic, Tsim Sha Tsui, Tuen Mun and Tsing Yi stations have also been opened.
Apart from the extension of Wi-Fi service coverage to all Airport Express trains in January, MTRCL has extended the 3G mobile phone coverage to all stations and tunnels of the Airport Express. Connection to public Wi-Fi service has been introduced at 32 stations in the MTR network, including all Airport Express stations.
A project on replacement of high voltage bushing in traction substations along the East Rail Line was carried out to enhance the reliability of power supply to trains.
2010
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MTRCL has completed different levels of renovation works at Mei Foo, Jordan, Sheung Shui, Mong Kok East, Kam Sheung Road and Tin Shui Wai stations. Renovation at Fanling Station has been underway.
The physical installation of automatic platform gates has begun at the platforms of the eight aboveground stations on the Island Line, Kwun Tong Line and Tsuen Wan Line.
New ramps for use by persons with disabilities were installed at Kwai Fong and Kwai Hing stations. Construction works are being carried out for new external lifts at Wong Tai Sin, Sham Shui Po and Jordan stations.
In addition, MTRCL is retrofitting remote controls for isolators near traction substations along the East Rail Line to improve the recovery efficiency when power failures occur.
Ends/Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Issued at HKT 13:46
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