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Light rail driver guilty of negligence over Yuen Long derailment
Defendant failed to convince a magistrate on Friday that he had blacked out just before the train he was driving derailed.
PUBLISHED : Saturday, 14 February, 2015, 12:53am
UPDATED : Saturday, 14 February, 2015, 12:53am
Chris Lau [email protected]
Some 77 people were reportedly injured in the incident
A Light Rail driver failed to convince a magistrate on Friday that he had blacked out just before the train he was driving derailed in Yuen Long two years ago.
Fung Chung-man, 30, was found guilty of committing a negligent act that endangered the safety of his 82 passengers when the train derailed as he attempted to make a turn at the junction of Kiu Hung Road and the Ping Shan section of Castle Peak Road.
In Tuen Mun Court, Deputy Magistrate Michael Chan Pik-kiu noted that after the incident, Fung did not tell paramedics at the scene, or later doctors at the hospital, that he had passed out.
He said Fung's version of the event was a "fabrication" before handing down a guilty verdict.
The court earlier heard that the route 761P train, which runs between Tin Shui Wai and Yuen Long, was travelling at 41km/h when it derailed on May 17, 2013 - more than double the 15km/h maximum speed for turning.
Some 77 people were reportedly injured in the incident.
Chan adjourned the case to March 9 for sentencing. An MTR spokesman said Fung had been moved to another department and mainly did clerical duties.
