With 7th consecutive increase in ticket prices looming, Hongkongers want review of controversial MTR fare adjustment mechanism

When the MTR Corporation announced an upcoming fare rise of 2.7 per cent against the backdrop of a staggering HK$13 billion in profits last month, the city’s commuters reacted with exasperation.

The reaction, however, was not so much about the fare rise itself, but the fact that it was the seventh straight year the railway operator had increased ticket prices since the controversial fare adjustment mechanism came into effect in 2009. The continuous rises have been enforced despite the operator reaping lucrative profits every year.

Last year, it incurred greater wrath with an overall fare rise of 4.3 per cent despite raking in HK$15.6 billion in profits in 2014. In 2012, the fare rise hit a record high of 5.4 per cent with the railway company pocketing a surplus of HK$14.7 billion the preceding year. There was a public outcry that the increases far exceeded what the public could afford.

The increases have created an impression with the public that MTR Corp has used the mechanism as an imperial sword to justify every increase without regard for the public burden.

The fare rise announcement came hot on the heels of MTR Corp obtaining an extra HK$19.6 billion for the over-budget express rail link to Guangzhou from a highly-polarised Legislative Council last month.

But while the railway giant may have been able to heave a sigh of relief that the cash-flow problems over the troubled rail link were resolved, it is now grappling with the fare adjustment mechanism being widely branded as flawed and unfair.