Police on Saturday said they have arrested a truck driver on suspicion of causing a light rail carriage to derail, and disrupting light rail services in the western New Territories for about three hours.

It is suspected that a plank, measuring 50 centimetres by 20 centimetres, fell from the truck the man was driving onto the light rail tracks.

Officers arrested the 49-year-old man for alleged dangerous driving.

The incident occurred at around 9:40am, when a carriage derailed near Chung Uk Tsuen Station and affected light rail routes 610, 614, 615, and 715.

As a result, services were suspended at Lam Tei, Nai Wai, Chung Uk Tsuen and Hung Shui Kiu stations. But there were no injuries.

The MTR Corporation said it's investigating the incident, adding a preliminary investigation found that the train involved was not speeding.

Citing sources, lawmaker Gary Zhang, the deputy chairman of the subcommittee on matters relating to railways at the Legislative Council, said the incident happened at a busy crossing.

“Although the incident is unrelated to the operations and maintenance of the light rail services, I think the MTR Corporation can still use technology to prevent similar incidents from happening again. For example, they can consider installing AI cameras at its junctions, or maybe install some vehicle-based detection systems so that early detections can be done,” he said.

Zhang doesn't expect the incident to trigger any penalty mechanisms.

Separately, the city’s transport chief Lam Sai-hung said that he had expressed concern about the incident.

The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) has conducted an immediate investigation at the scene of the incident and will study improvement measures along with the MTR Corporation.
_____________________________
Last updated: 2024-05-18 HKT 17:58