Letters | Hong Kong MTR focuses on profits, so it can meet high service standards and development goals
- Turning profits has allowed MTR to continue to reinvest in a railway network which, despite a year of challenges, is still highly reliable
In her article, Mrs Ip acknowledges that the MTR provides generally efficient and reliable services for over 5 million local commuters every day, and that its railway service has been ranked as one of the world's best. At the same time, she says that the MTR is too focused on profitability. In fact, the company’s profitability is critically important to providing the high standards of service that the people of Hong Kong are accustomed to and expect, including our record of delivering more than 99.9 per cent of passenger journeys on time.
We are often asked by our peers in other cities about how we have achieved and sustained this high standard of service over many years, even as our railway gets older.
Let me highlight two critical factors. One reason is the dedication, professionalism and sheer hard work of our 17,000 MTR colleagues in Hong Kong. The second reason is that we have a business model based on the integration of rail and property that is financially sustainable in the long term. This model gives us sufficient financial resources to reinvest into our railway network – to maintain, repair and upgrade our infrastructure and assets so they continue to operate in prime condition.
Mrs Ip raised a number of issues in her article. Let me briefly touch on some of them. Firstly, with regard to railway development in Hong Kong, we support expansion of the railway network, so as to extend safe, reliable and convenient railway service to more people. However, according to the existing regime, decisions on railway development rest with the Hong Kong SAR government and not the MTR.