MTR ridership figures plunge by as much as 30 per cent in August amid Hong Kong protest crisis
- High-speed rail link to mainland China hardest hit, posting lowest monthly figures since debut a year ago
- Credit rating agency warns of more woes for operator if retail sentiment and tourism continue to be affected
Hong Kong’s embattled rail giant has become one of the major casualties of the protest crisis, with a drop of up to 30 per cent in patronage in August.
According to latest numbers from the MTR Corporation, domestic ridership was 131 million for the month, 7 per cent down year on year while figures from the Airport Express plunged by 10 per cent over the same period to 1.3 million.
The high-speed rail link to mainland China was the hardest hit, with traveller numbers tumbling 30 per cent from 1.62 million in July to 1.14 million in August – the lowest since its debut in September last year.
The trend was also reflected in other cross-border MTR services in August, with passenger numbers falling 25 per cent to under 8 million, while average daily ridership on such lines, at 257,000, marked the lowest point in nearly a decade.
The grim figures came amid protest woes faced by the MTR Corp after it became a target of radical demonstrators in recent weeks, as critics accuse it of bowing to pressure from Beijing.
More than half of its 91 stations have been vandalised, with fires started at entrances on consecutive weekends of violence, among other damage.