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HK govt warned on defective Singapore trains, report alleges

SINGAPORE — The Hong Kong government had been warned about quality issues plaguing the China-made trains delivered to SMRT before the territory awarded a contract last year to the same mainland manufacturer for 93 new trains, an investigative news website has reported.

SMRT trains at Bishan Depot. TODAY file photo

SMRT trains at Bishan Depot. TODAY file photo

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SINGAPORE — The Hong Kong government had been warned about quality issues plaguing the China-made trains delivered to SMRT before the territory awarded a contract last year to the same mainland manufacturer for 93 new trains, an investigative news website has reported.

FactWire News Agency, which first broke the news about the defective trains SMRT was sending back to China-based CSR-Sifang, published several redacted emails on Thursday (July 7), suggesting that Hong Kong's Transport and Housing Bureau had been told about the "undercarriage cracking problem” with the Singapore trains.

Singapore's Land Transport Authority (LTA) disclosed on Wednesday night that hairline cracks found in the 26 China-made CI51A-model trains "were due to localised impurity in the aluminium car-body material that occurred during the manufacturing process". The cracks were found on the surface of the car-body bolster, which is on the undercarriage of the trains. The LTA said the cracks, first discovered in July 2013, were not “safety critical”.

News of Singapore's defective trains raised alarm bells in Hong Kong as the territory's subway operator, MTR Corp, had awarded a contract for 93 new trains to CSR Sifang in July 2015.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Hong Kong's Secretary for Transport and Housing Anthony Cheung Bing-leung said the bureau was not aware of the problems with Singapore’s C151A trains.

But emails published by FactWire suggested that Hong Kong’s transport bureau received several emails about the defect in Singapore’s trains from January to August 2015. The news agency did not identify the sender, but the emails urged the bureau to “freeze the tender assessment” and were addressed to Mr Cheung.

In one of the email attachments posted online by FactWire, the author gave this description of the problem with the Singapore trains: “Thousands of brackets had been added to the relevant areas, as a temporary measure to ensure the safety integrity of the underframe sub-floor member to prevent the equipment from falling down onto the track. Ultimate solution will require the fleet to be recalled back to Qingdao for replacement of the sub-floor.” 

Emails published by FactWire News Agency warning the Hong Kong transport bureau about train defects. Photo via FactWire's website

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