That one got me a bit worked up. What were they expecting in T10? Why were they even trying to travel anyway?

I'm not there, but maybe designate a check-in counter as voucher counter on both ends of each check-in row...staff stamp boarding basses for vouchers taken.

If staff only distribute to people who ask then you'd encourage everyone to ask...and some more than once.

They were trying to get home, and train service was disrupted befor midnight, when it was only Signal #9. Plenty of people still was working in the city during the evening, not everybody got to leave work early or have a car.

What MTR did extremely poorly was communication with the stranded. It seemed MTR had no clue what they could or could not do for them, and never cared to update to these passengers.

That is quite some time to try to get home. Methinks employees should either be evacuated in the 2-hour warning period or be prepared to stay the night.

But some grassroots employees may not have an option.
I think the problem is more the communication of MTR an their crisis mgmt plan.

That's life for many employees in HK. After working in the US for a long time, I can't imagine working at many jobs in HK with very rigid work hours and unsympathetic employers.

Anyways, for others, it doesn't seem that bad trying to get home at say 11pm that night by East Rail when it was still Signal #8 when many started their journey home. Few thought the storm would get that strong even during mid-evening.

Honkies should be thankful they hv mtr, not tfl. they would get absolutely nothing from tfl.

Work with a us co in Ldn and hk and don't see any improvements in my hours. Don't think rigid hours is region specific.

There's not a lot the MTR can feasibly do. MTR (esp ex-KCR lines which have large sections above ground) is not weather-proof.

Once the power lines get cut by falling trees, all MTR can do ask passengers to walk to stations. There's no feasible rescue - some vechicle insurance might not be valid for accidents in T8 or above, and in any case there are safety issues anyway. MTR passengers have to stay in the station until lines are restored or road transport becomes available, whichever is earlier.

There are allegations that MTR staff asked passengers to leave the station http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_d...=20120725&fc=4 . I don't know what moronic staff will make such a request and if so they should be summarily fired if allegations proven.

The Standard also suggested MTR can keep emergency supplies at stations like AAHK http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_d...=20120726&fc=7 . Whilst MTR can definitely consider it, the frequency this happens is a lot less than HKIA and MTR passengers are stranded for a lot shorter time than HKIA.

But other than that it's really life. What can MTR feasibly communicate? You either wait for the first train to show up or the first taxi to arrive back at the rank. It's not like you have to go back home to wait or reroute on another line.

Problem was that they did give
Certain pax money to take taxis and did not do
Any definitive c

Problem was that they did give
Certain pax money to take taxis and did not do
Any definitive communication whther there will be replacement bus. Also the staff at the station r not trained to deal with this
Crisis.

They had no emergency response plan at all to deal with this and the staff had no idea how to deal with the situation

I visited all three. The Pier was definitely the least packed. People were using entire couches as beds. People in the Cabin were sitting on the window sill for lack of seats. Ventured outside to visit gates of competing airlines going to the same place; Korean Air and Asiana said they were full or would refuse to sell Cathay a ticket becuase the flight "closed". To keep my seat in the Wing, I made a deal with some guy. He gave be a blanket when I returned as "rent."

Made it to Seoul on the 7 am 25th flight 412 (my rebooking from 416). Bag arrived today. First time I slept through a safety briefing. Had a view of the A330 video tape deck. Very retro with VHS tapes and a floppy drive.

Let's get all the facts in 1 post...
In the late afternoon, HKO gave the 2 hours notice that T8 would be hoisted in the early evening, with it eventually being hoisted at around 6pm.
I believe most employees head home at or around this time.

T9 was hoisted at around 11:30pm. While there may be a few workers who are stuck in their office, given the time of the night and that it has been 5.5 hours since T8, I am quite surprised that there are still people out and about.

T10 then followed at around 12:45am. At this time, there really wouldn't be many people about, even for a non-typhoon week night. It has also been almost 7 hours since T8, so it is beyond believe that there are people still trying to get home on the MTR.

Funny enough, in most countries, when a typhoon is coming, people would head home and bunker up. In Hong Kong, during T8, people happily get out of work, and celebrate the no-work-day in style - going yum cha, watching movies, singing karaoke, etc. Guess who's to blame when there's no transport home at the end of the day.

I guess one way or another it was a WET night!

The money bit as a Chee-gor style bad mistake I reckon. I don't think MTR was obliged to give anything, except to refund fare difference for uncompleted journey.

What's the point of communicating when a replacement bus will come? It comes whenever the drivers think its feasible to drive. Passengers are free to take the first taxi, KMB or MTR replacement bus - whichever comes first.

There are plenty of people who live betwee Sha Tin and Sheung Shui and works in Kowloon or HK Island. Why can't someone imagine a few hundred would still be enroute home before midnight on the East Rail, when that was the only transportation running?

That's EXACTLY the reason why MTR was running all service all night. They were basically THE transportation a good number of HK workers can rely on. Otherwise, they would have stopped running before the lines got cut.