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Following is a question by the Hon Albert Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport, Mr Nicholas Ng, in the Legislative Council today (March 6):

Question: The Mass Transit Railway Corporation ("MTRC") plans to spend 30 million to 40 million dollars to renovate the Central and the Kowloon Bay stations and extend the shop areas in these two stations, but it has no plans to install public toilet facilities for the convenience of the public in the stations. As some of the MTR journeys are rather long, the public has a genuine need for such toilet facilities, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

(a) MTRC's specific measures and timetable to fully address the problem regarding the lack of public toilet facilities in existing MTRC stations; and

(b) if MTRC will reserve areas for installing public toilet facilities when building new stations or extending existing stations; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply :

Madam President,

The MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) has advised that it has examined the possibility of providing toilets at existing MTR stations. The Corporation considers that there are difficulties in installing toilets within the existing railway premises. The Corporation is of the view that public toilets within MTR premises could become crime spots, as shown by overseas experience. Given the substantial passenger flow in the MTR system, the Corporation also worries that the problems of keeping the toilets clean could spoil the station environment.

For passengers who have an urgent need for toilet facilities while they are travelling on the MTR, the Corporation suggests that they should contact the station staff so that the use of internal staff toilets can be arranged.

Given the security and hygiene concerns, the Corporation does not have plans to incorporate public toilet facilities when building new stations or extending existing stations.

The Corporation will, however, strive to have toilets provided in the Public Transport Interchange (PTI) located next to new railway stations. For example, for Tseung Kwan O Line, all the PTIs built by the Corporation are equipped with toilets. In addition, there are on-going discussions between the Corporation and the relevant Government departments on locating public toilets near MTR stations.

End/Wednesday, March 6, 2002

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