Our Community

More shops open, food ban tightens

by Li Ching-luen

Train commuters find the ban on eating and drinking contradictory when more food shops ranging from bakeries to herbal tea shops and convenience stores have opened in stations, even with some of them being in the paid areas.

ˇ§As the MTR allows these food shops to open, it is likely to imply that it lets passengers eat or drink after they enter the stations,ˇ¨ accountant Cheung Kwok-wai, 28, said.

Another passenger, Leung Ka-ian, said passengers were always in a hurry, so it was ˇ§very unreasonableˇ¨ to expect them to buy but not to eat the food until they reached their destinations.

The 19-year-old student once took a bite of a bread roll that she bought from a bakery at a MTR station while chatting with her friend on the underground train. A team of patrollers then rushed up to give her a verbal warning and later a warning letter when she got off at the next station.

Miss Leung said she had never thought that there would be staff enforcing the food ban. A patroller told her the patrol was just a routine and she was used as an example to promote the by-law enforcement.

ˇ§I felt unfair. Why did they have to choose me as an example to promote?ˇ¨ Miss Leung said, but adding that she would not eat or drink again on a train.
According to the by-law of the MTR Corporation, eating and drinking is not allowed on trains or in the paid areas of stations. As for the heavy rail Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR), no one shall consume any food or drink in the paid area, or anywhere with or near the railway premises.

Passengers may face a maximum fine of HK$2,000 and prosecution if they do not follow the regulations of both rail operators.

The two companies deploy teams of staff to patrol on trains and in station premises on a regular basis to stop passengers from eating or drinking. KCR sometimes also conducts unexpected checks, according to Ida Leung Pik-fu, senior public affairs manager of the corporation. The patrol team will issue warnings and take necessary prosecution to those who break the rule.

The manager declined to give any figures on warnings issued or prosecutions made, saying the numbers were just for internal reference.

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KCRC puts up posters to remind passengers about the no-eating rule.