bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Gary Cheung

Rail firm executive says the proposed departure fee will slash traffic by 12pc

The number of rail passengers crossing the Lowu checkpoint is likely to drop by one-eighth once a departure tax is levied on outbound travellers, a KCRC official told a Legco committee yesterday.

Samuel Lai Man-hay, finance director of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation,  said the daily number of cross-border passengers was expected to drop by 32,000, or 12.5 per cent, if the $18 tax  was introduced.

Mr Lai told the Bills Committee the decrease would cost the KCRC  $300 million a year.

He said the estimates were based on the rail operator's surveys of 2,700 passengers last month and this month.

'We do not rule out the possibility of adjusting our fares if there is a persistent decline in the number of cross-border commuters following the introduction of the levy,' Mr Lai said.

He said the corporation had no immediate plans to reduce its fares to Lowu or raise charges on the East Rail, adding that charges for some trips on the East Rail were lower than bus fares.

KCRC chairman Michael Tien Puk-sun said in February that border train fares could be reduced by up to $4 a trip if the corporation was allowed to raise charges on local routes by $2.

Under a government plan, travellers crossing the border from Hong Kong by land or sea will be charged $18 a trip, while a tax of $100 will be imposed on private vehicles.

The government plans to introduce the tax, which is expected to raise $1 billion in revenue a year, early next year.

Under the proposal,  KCRC and coach operators would have to collect the tax for the government outside the immigration halls and control point areas.

Mr Lai said it would be difficult for KCRC staff to verify if passengers had paid the tax before they crossed the border, especially during peak hours.

Staff would find it harder still if the government decided to exempt some travellers from paying the levy.

'If these fundamental issues cannot be resolved, the KCRC will urge the government to take up the role of enforcement by itself,' Mr Lai said.

Yeung Wai-hung, chairman of the Public Omnibus Operators' Association, criticised the government for shifting the responsibility for collecting the levy to transport operators.

Alan Lai Nin, permanent secretary for the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, said the flow of cross-border travellers would not be affected if the tax was collected away from checkpoints.

The Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB), whose chairman, Tsang Yok-sing, is an executive councillor, has urged the government to scrap plans to bring in the levy.

The DAB, the Democratic Party and other parties have vowed to block the bill.

Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen said yesterday the government would further assess support for the tax bill. The expected extra revenue would not play a 'key part' in easing the budget deficit.



Travel levy will cost us $300m a year, says KCRC