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Wednesday June 8, 2:18 PM
Hong Kong subway helping London's ailing UndergroundEngineers at Hong Kong's ultra-modern subway system have been hired to help put right London's crumbling Underground system. The former British colony's Mass Transit Railway, the first section of which was built in 1979, is advising the Tube Lines private consortium that runs the tracks and signals of large swathes of London's huge network. "We've been advising Tube Lines on signaling upgrades and more track management to support engineering work," she said. A source at Transport for London, the state-run corporation that manages the capital's transport networks, was quoted as saying in London's Evening Standard newspaper on Tuesday that MTR expertise "could prove invaluable in helping sort out the Tube's problems". The MTR, which is currently being extended to serve the territory's new Disneyland site, has an exemplary 99 percent punctuality record. Its air-conditioned trains serve 50 stations and carry 2.4 million passengers each weekday. The Tube, the world's oldest underground subway system, suffers from breakdowns, scheduling problems and track disruptions. Signalling problems are the biggest cause of Tube breakdowns and its huge extent -- it serves 275 stations and carries three million people each day -- make it expensive to maintain.
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