Hong Kong protesters attacked a cross-border train at Fanling MTR station last week, leading the railway operator to temporarily suspend cross-border services.
At around 11pm on Friday, two dozen people dressed in black used hammers and metal rods to damage a Guangzhou-bound train, breaking some of the windows. They also damaged a surveillance camera on the platform according to news footage from RTHK.
Passengers were spotted aboard the moving train, with local media saying that some reacted in horror to the acts of vandalism.
When the train began to pull away, people threw a bike and a concrete block onto the track. A spokesperson “strongly condemned” the acts, which they said were an attempt to “block the train from moving” while leaving Fanling.
As of Tuesday, the Z810, Z818 and Z804 trains which were scheduled to depart from Hung Hom were halted. The Z805, Z819 and Z809 trains from Guangzhou East station were also suspended.
The Z100 trains would begin and end services at Guangzhou East station, instead of at Hung Hom as usual.
Over the weekend, the MTR Corporation suspended through-train services to some mainland destinations, though the high-speed rail link remained open.
The railway operator has become a target for protester vandalism since August, after it was accused of aiding police. In an unprecedented move, the entire MTR network shut down on Saturday over “safety concerns,” with more than half of the stations still closed a day later.
Since June, large-scale peaceful protests against a bill that would have enabled extraditions to China have evolved into sometimes violent displays of dissent over Beijing’s encroachment, democracy and alleged police brutality.
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