The Environment, Transport & Works Bureau has ordered the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation and its transformer supplier to investigate Wednesday's fire-sparking short circuit, and submit a report to the Railway Inspectorate.

While the KCRC followed procedure in the evacuation of passengers during the incident, the inspectorate will review the arrangements.

At about 9.15am today, smoke reportedly billowed from one of the carriages of a train inside Tai Lam Tunnel, travelling from Kam Sheung to Tsuen Wan West stations. About 650 passengers were evacuated.

10 hurt

Four men and five women, aged 17 to 40, were sent to Yan Chai Hospital. A 24-year-old woman remains in stable condition and a 36-year-old woman is under observation. Another man, 43, was sent to North District Hospital. He is stable.

The inspectorate believes a transformer on top of the train carriage short-circuited and sparked the fire. The KCRC has been ordered to complete a comprehensive fleet check on all transformers on trains of the same model before starting services tomorrow.

The electric overhead line and rail track at the location has been checked and is operating normally.

Stringent requirements

The Government has stringent safety requirements for railway systems, including train carriages, tunnel design and passenger evacuation procedures. Carriages are fire resistant.

It also requires the provision of lighting and smoke ventilation systems in tunnels. Ventilation systems must extract smoke away from the scene in the opposite direction of passenger evacuation.