On 6 October 2019, a number of stations of the Tsuen Wan Line (TWL) were closed due to large-scale public order events. Since 4:50 p.m. that day, the TWL only ran a special short loop service between Kwai Hing Station (KWH), Lai King Station (LAK), and Mei Foo Station (MEF). At about 5:43 p.m., a train carrying about 300 passengers from LAK headed towards MEF via a special route and stopped after hitting the concrete buffer at the end of the railway track. The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) immediately deployed staff to the scene for investigation.
Investigation results suggested that the TWL train with 315 passengers on board was instructed to enter a special track, which was not used under normal circumstances, in Coded Manual Mode in order to proceed to MEF. After stopping at about 60 meters before a signal light, the train slowly proceeded forward at the speed of about 13 kilometers per hour in Restricted Manual Mode. While the train captain should confirm with staff of the MTR Operations Control Centre before restarting the train, the one in the incident did not do so. At that time, the point switch had not been set as MEF-bound and the red signal light was still on. After passing the red signal light, the train hit the concrete buffer at the end of the railway track and eventually stopped.
Human error was involved in this accident. Under the above-mentioned special train service arrangement, the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) assigned a second train captain to assist the original train captain to perform duties. The second train captain was responsible for such duties as assisting the original train captain in noticing signal lights and stopping the train in case of irregularities. To minimise human error, the EMSD recommended the MTRCL to enhance its guidelines on the duties of the second train captain under special train service arrangement so that all train captains could learn from the incident and understand clearly the duties of the relevant posts. The EMSD also recommended the MTRCL to formulate new working guidelines, which stipulate that Traffic Controller could only authorise the passenger train to proceed to the next red signal light in Restricted Manual Mode. In addition, the MTRCL has included the special route in the cab simulator training to allow train captains to be familiarised with the relevant route.