Outgoing chairman urges government not to implement fare adjustment plan
The commercial-based business model of MTR Corp (MTRC) must not be sabotaged in the face of the government shifting its policies on transport fares and land supply, the outgoing chairman and chief executive Jack So Chak-kwong told the administration.
Mr So, who is leaving MTRC tomorrow to join telecoms giant PCCW, warned of potential disastrous consequences of turning the semi-privatised company into a government-subsidised unit by citing fiascos in the London, Paris and New York subway services.
His farewell comments were in response to government proposals to implement a fare adjustment policy on public transport and overhaul land supply by MTRC and its counterpart Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp (KCRC).
The proposals raise serious doubts on MTRC's autonomy in determining fares and its future prospects of making profits from property to finance hefty rail investments.
'MTRC's success is due primarily to its commercial-based operating principle in the last 20 years,' Mr So said.