The Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC) has purchased a state-of-the-art ultrasonic rail testing machine to examine the tracks of its Light Rail system. The machine will replace the existing one which is operated manually.

Bought from England at a cost of HK$2.4 million, the new machine will be put into use next month.

Not only is the machine much quieter and faster, its ultrasonic probes will alert engineering staff with sound and light signals when irregularities inside or under the tracks are detected.

The MTRC on Friday arranged a site visit for the media to see the new machine at the Pat Heung depot.

At present, a manual machine is being used. It works on one side of the track at a time and has to be pushed while it functions, said David Leung, MTRC's general manager for infrastructure.

The new ultrasonic testing machine runs on both sides of the track and carries two maintenance workers - one driving the machine and the other reading the computer data. The new machine can even detect minor fissures that cannot be seen by the naked eye, Leung explained.

When cracks are found, engineering staff will follow up by either repairing them or replacing the parts.

It takes 50 nights to examine the entire Light Rail network which spans 150 kilometers when the manual testing machine is used.

The ultrasonic testing machine is three times faster.

The new machine is weather-proof and is very quiet. It will not cause any nuisance to residents nearby when maintenance services are carried out at night.

(HK Edition 03/29/2008 page1)