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| March 2000 Passengers unhappy with first aid in railway stations By Alison Yeung Articles from the same section:
Getting sick is never a good experience, and getting sick in crowded compartments of public vehicles could make the situation even worse. In fact, such problems are not rare in mass transit systems such as Kowloon Canton Railway and Mass Transit Railway. Ms Eliza Wong, a Year 2 student at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, shared her experience of getting sick on a KCR train. Said Ms Wong: “When the train was approaching Kowloon Tong, I felt so ill that I almost fainted. “Then, I got off at Mong Kok station and I could hardly walk. “Eventually my friends called for help from a platform supervisor. The supervisor lifted me up and put me in a wheelchair, asking me to take a rest in the supervisor’s room.” She said there should be a sick room for passengers who feel ill. “As a passenger, I surely want KCR to allocate more resources to ensure passengers’ safety,” said Ms Wong. When queried by a Varsity staff writer about policies on handling ill passengers, the KCR platform supervisor in Mong Kok said he could not answer any questions without permission from the head office. Ms Bessie Mok, assistant services officer for the KCR, said that platform supervisors are expected to do their best to help sick passengers. Water and a comfortable seat will be provided to passengers in need, Ms Mok said. “If passengers feel that they need to lie down, that means their illness is very serious and in this case, we will transfer them to a hospital,” Ms Mok said. There have been similar cases on the MTR. Ms Lam Wai Man, a secondary student from Tuen Mun, had experience of getting sick on an MTR train. She said, “I was not feeling well that day. And after getting on an MTR train, I felt even worse.” Ms Lam said that the reason why she felt ill was that the ventilation system of the train was poor. She said that the MTR should provide more medical facilities. Ms Stella Lam, senior public relations officer of the MTR Corporation, said that they are trying their best to provide help for passengers. Said she: “Passengers are always welcome to seek help from platform supervisors. “We will arrange places for passengers to take a rest. There are also many seats on every platform. “In case of real emergency, we will certainly call 999 for help.” When asked if the ventilation system of the MTR trains is poor, Ms Lam said that there is no problem with the quality of the current system and they have already started modernizing their trains to improve their services. “There are totally 95 trains running on the Tsuen Wan, Kwun Tong and Island lines, and one-third of them are modernized,” said Ms Lam. She said the modernized trains are equipped with improved air-conditioning and ventilation system. There are also better facilities for wheel-chaired passengers. “Fans will be installed on the top of the train so as to improve ventilation. This may reduce the number of passengers getting sick,” said Ms Lam. |
The ventilation system in the new MTR
compartments is being improved. (Courtesy of the MTR Corporation) |
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