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Following is a question by the Hon Dr Chiang Lai-wan and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (May 22):
Question:
It has been reported that last year, the Police received 197 reported cases of indecent assaults which occurred within MTR premises (indecent assaults in MTR), ie an average of 16 cases per month. Among these cases, the youngest victim was only four years old. It has been learnt that these indecent assault cases mostly happened in overcrowded train compartments. Some pathological sex offenders even looked for their "preys" on the train platforms and then followed their targets into train compartments to exploit opportunities for sexually assaulting these targets. So, there are opinions requesting the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) to examine conducting a trial run for the provision of train compartments for women and children, especially during the morning and evening rush hours, so as to protect the safety of female passengers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the trend of the reported cases of indecent assaults in MTR received by the Police in the past three years, broken down by the gender of the victims;
(b) whether it knows if MTRCL will consider conducting a trial run for the provision of train compartments for women and children; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(c) whether it knows what measures MTRCL has taken to further combat crimes of indecent assaults in MTR, and whether the company will consider enhancing the closed-circuit television systems currently installed in train compartments if it will not consider, of the reasons for that; and
(d) if it knows MTRCL's current passenger/staff ratio during peak hours, and whether the company has assessed if such ratio can effectively combat crimes of indecent assaults?
Reply:
President,
The Railway District of the Hong Kong Police Force (the Police) and the staff of the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) are responsible for the security of the MTR network. Over the years, both parties have been working closely together to provide safe and reliable railway service to passengers. They review the effectiveness of the measures from time to time to prevent and curb crime within the railway premises.
My reply to the Dr Hon Chiang Lai-wan's question is as follows:
(a) According to the information provided by the Police, the number of cases of indecent assaults in the Railway Police District in the past three years and the gender of the victims are as follows:
Number of reported Gender of the
cases victims
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Female Male
2010 151 148 3
2011 167 164 3
2012 197 195 2
(b) MTRCL currently has no plan to introduce female-only compartments in the MTR network. The reasons are as follows:
(i) MTR provides one of the most frequent services amongst the railway networks in the world. During peak periods, crowds usually appear on the platforms, and train service is available around every two minutes. Any kind of exclusive compartments would have impact on the control of passenger flow;
(ii) as most MTR trains are of an open design, the introduction of female-only compartments would reduce the flexibility of passenger movement between train compartments;
(iii) when deciding whether to introduce female-only compartments, we should also consider whether there is a need to introduce male-only compartments to ensure both sexes are treated equally, so that the relevant arrangements comply with the Sex Discrimination Ordinance; and
(iv) female-only compartments are not a common feature in railway systems around the world. Currently only a few jurisdictions such as Japan, Indonesia and Dubai offer them.
Notwithstanding, MTRCL will continue to work closely with the Police to take appropriate measures to prevent crime of indecent assaults in the railway premises.
(c) To prevent crime of indecent assaults in the railway premises, MTRCL puts up posters at MTR stations to step up the promotion of anti-crime messages. Passengers are encouraged not to remain silent but report incidents or crimes immediately to the Police or station staff for prompt assistance. MTR station staff are trained to prevent crime of indecent assaults, in order to assist the Police in combating crime. MTRCL will continue to work closely with the Police to take appropriate measures to prevent crime of indecent assaults in the railway premises, and to protect the safety of passengers.
As at today, closed circuit television (CCTV) system is installed on all trains running in the West Rail Line, Ma On Shan Line and Disneyland Resort Line. It is also installed on some trains on the East Rail Line, Kwun Tong Line and Light Rail. New trains purchased by MTRCL in the future will be equipped with the CCTV system. As for trains currently without the CCTV system, MTRCL will, based on the design of different train models, consider installing the CCTV system during future modification works.
The main purpose for MTRCL to install CCTV system in MTR train compartments is to enable the train captain to immediately understand the relevant situation in the train compartments through the CCTV system and provide prompt assistance, when passengers activate the in-train intercom where necessary. If passengers witness any illegal actions, they can contact MTR staff to timely notify the Police for follow-up.
(d) Within the year up to April 30, 2013, MTRCL carries an average of about 5 million passenger trips per weekday. MTRCL has over 7,500 staff responsible for train and station operation. Their main duties are to maintain the daily operation of trains and stations, manage passenger flow and provide customer service, etc. As mentioned in item (c) above, MTRCL has on one hand stepped up the promotion of anti-crime messages in stations, and encouraged passengers not to remain silent but report incidents immediately to the Police or train or station staff. At the same time MTRCL also constantly reminds its train and station staff to be vigilant on crime prevention.
Ends/Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Issued at HKT 15:36
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