With the expanding railway network and the increasing patronage, any railway incident resulting in railway service disruption may cause considerable disturbance to passengers and knock-on impact upon the entire public transport system in Hong Kong. In light of the potential significant impact of railway incidents and high public expectation on railway services, the Railways Branch (RB) of EMSD has strengthened its regulatory role and stepped up its regulatory control over the entire operating railway network of the MTR Corporation Limited (the MTRCL) by replacing its previous "Compliance Audit" with the introduction of C&DA of the MTRCL's Asset Management System (AMS) and Safety Management System (SMS).
On railway safety, the MTRCL needs to continuously maintain its AMS for the effective management and sound operation of its railway assets. the MTRCL is also required to operate and maintain its SMS to review, control and minimise safety risks as far as practicable. Whereas previous "Compliance Audit" focused on whether the MTRCL implemented its work according to the requirements of AMS and SMS, the RB has expanded the audit work and developed the long-term C&DA to adopt a more direct, comprehensive and preventive approach to systematically and thoroughly review the procedures and records of the two management systems. The C&DA reviews the suitability, effectiveness, adequacy and consistency of the AMS and SMS being implemented by the operation and maintenance teams of each operating railway line in the MTRCL. Its purposes are to identify shortfalls in maintenance services and potential safety risks, find out deficiencies in the current operation and maintenance regime, and recommend improvement measures to the MTRCL for implementation. Through "risk-based approach", potential problems and hazards in the railway systems that may possibly lead to incident will be early identified to proactively reduce risks and enhance railway safety.
Since July 2019, the RB commenced C&DA of MTRCL's AMS of the four major railway assets (including permanent way, power distribution, rolling stock and signalling) and its SMS. Each C&DA will last for around three months covering either the AMS of one of the four main railway systems or the SMS for one of the operating railway lines. A full cycle of C&DAs covering MTRCL's SMS and AMS of the four main railway systems in all operating railway lines will take around five years to complete, and priority of assessment is given to the most aged legacy infrastructures and railway line/system with high incident rates.
Upon the completion of each C&DA, the RB will directly inform MTRCL's senior management of the audit findings and recommendations. The RB will also monitor the progress of MTRCL's follow-up actions to ensure continuous improvement in railway safety.