About 5,000 KCRC staff will have their pay and welfare benefits cut by two per cent from August, saving the corporation $41 million a year.
But the cut will be optional for senior executives because of contract conditions.
Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation chairman Michael Tien Puk-sun refused to give an assurance after a board meeting yesterday that it would not raise fares following the cut, saying they were 'two separate issues'.
Mr Tien said only that there would not be any lay-offs this year. He said a manpower review later this year would determine whether some staff would be redeployed to West Rail or other projects.
In the pay-cut package announced yesterday, 280 senior management staff - executives, senior executives, directors and chief executive officer Yeung Kai-yin - were given an option of a voluntary two per cent cut in their total pay package. This equals 3.1 per cent to four per cent of their basic salaries.
But the other 4,940 general staff will face a mandatory cut in allowances and benefits. A KCRC spokesman estimated this accounted for about two per cent of their total income.
Their acting-higher duties pay, Lowu overnight allowance and some maternity benefits will be abolished. Overtime allowances, overnight shift allowances and housing allowances will be cut by 10 per cent.