MTR Island Line trains started serving the Hong Kong University and Kennedy Town stations on December 28, 2014, while the Sai Ying Pun Station is expected to open by the end of the first quarter of this year. As part of the pre-opening preparation, Railway District (RAILDIST) has jointly organised with MTR Corporation a series of events to ensure a reliable and safe railway system for the public, including a joint emergency response exercise and a crime prevention seminar for the shop tenants in the new stations.
The emergency response exercise for the West Island Line took place at the Kennedy Town Station on November 8 last year, simulating a smoke incident on a train, during which RAILDIST, Fire Services Department and MTR Corporation tested their coordination and communication.
On December 12, RAILDIST, MTR Corporation, Hong Kong Island Regional Crime Prevention Office and Police Community Relations Office of Western District jointly offered a crime prevention seminar at the MTR Corporation Headquarters in Kowloon Bay for forging closer co-operation and communication with the shop tenants in the new stations.
RAILDIST has also uploaded the information folders of the Hong Kong University and Kennedy Town stations and the "Action Checklists on Emergency Public Transport Services for Breakdown of MTR" promulgated by Transport Department onto the "DataBase (Restricted)" of Police Email Network for officers at Inspectorate rank or above. Those documents contain details of contingency plans for MTR service disruption, stations crowd control and information on emergency bus routes.