A TRAIN came off the rails during a test on the Longhua section of Metro Line 4 last month, according to a document that began circulating on the Internet on Monday.
In the document, the city s Metro construction management office criticized the operator of Metro Line 4, Hong Kong MTR Corp., for lack of strict safety management, which led to the derailment at 7:30 p.m. on March 30, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.
The derailed train was damaged and had been sent for repairs, the document said.
The office required the Metro operator to improve safety management and punish the people responsible for the accident.
The Hong Kong MTR confirmed the accident in the wake of media reports, saying the accident was caused by nonstandard operation by contractors and had nothing to do with the train and the signal system, the paper said.
The operator said it had no impact on the construction of rest of the line.
In addition to the derailment, the document said there had been a fire at Shangmeilin Station since the start of decorating and tests on Line 4.
However, the belated disclosure of the derailment has triggered public concern over the safety of the Metro.
People said online that the derailment was a serious accident and should have been made public immediately even though there were no casualties, because it pointed to potential safety hazards in the system.
The Hong Kong MTR has a good reputation for transparency, which should not change in Shenzhen, netizens said.
The Hong Kong MTR took over operations on Line 4 on July 1 last year on a 30-year lease.
There have been a series of Metro accidents in the past three months.
One worker was killed and four others injured Monday when a manually controlled chain hoist broke loose in a Metro Line 5 tunnel in Longgang District.
A preliminary investigation by Longgang District Safety Production Supervision Bureau found mechanical failure was responsible.
On March 29, there was a cave-in at the No. 3 entrance of Daxin Station of the extension project of the Metro Line 1.
The city has been in a rush to complete a number of Metro lines before the Universiade in August. (Li Hao)
