Overtime shifts new 'norm'

Due to constant damage to railway facilities, a dwindling number of spare parts for repairs made the problem increasingly acute, according to Adi Lau Tin-shing, operations director of MTR.

Various facilities, including 1,200 turnstiles, 800 ticketing machines, 900 CCTV cameras, and 50 escalators, have been damaged, causing unbudgeted costs of up to HK$10 million ($1.47 million) for reparations.

Some spare parts have been exhausted and replacement parts have had to be ordered overseas. They will not arrive in Hong Kong until November, said Lau.

Before that, the company mobilized staff to deal with the crisis. For example, more employees were added to help recharge the metro card or sell tickets before the ticket machines were fixed.