Fares are likely to rise 5.4 per cent in June, in the third and largest increase since a fare-adjustment formula came into effect in 2007, the MTR Corp said yesterday.
Community groups reacted with anger to the increase, which means an average rise of about 37 cents per trip, and lawmaker Andrew Cheng Kar-foo said: 'The increase will create a great burden for passengers and any concession is unlikely to be enough.'
The groups noted that the adjustment formula was supposed to allow for fare increases during periods of inflation and fare cuts in times of recession. Yet so far it had brought only fare rises, even though the MTR Corp saw net profits jump 22 per cent to HK$14.7 billion last year.
The Transport and Housing Bureau said an independent consultant would review the fare-adjustment formula in the second half of the year. Specifically, it will investigate whether factors other than the composite consumer price index (CCPI) and wage indices for the transport sector - such as the MTR Corp's earnings and costs - should be taken into account.
The formula is supposed to balance the railway's affordability with its profitability. Starting next year, it will take the profitability into account, subtracting it from the rise in costs and inflation and tending to keep future fare rises smaller during profitable years.
But transport analyst Hung Wing-tat said the productivity rate had been set at an unfairly low level of 0.1 per cent. 'When there is any inflation or jump in the transport sector's wages, the passengers have to split the extra cost with the MTR. So why, when it comes to a surge in MTR earnings, can passengers only share 0.1 per cent of it?' Hung said.
