July ridership for Hong Kong MTR plunges 17 per cent from rebound in June, with grim outlook amid Covid-19 third wave
- Patronage for domestic services was 91 million in July, down 34 per cent from 138 million a year ago, and a drop from the month before because of the local Covid-19 surge
- Other services by rail giant, such as cross-border lines and the high-speed rail link, record even more dismal numbers
According to the MTR Corporation, patronage for domestic services was 91 million in July, down 34 per cent from 138 million a year ago. It also dropped 17 per cent compared with 110 million in June, which marked a rebound of 13 per cent from 97 million in May.
Plagued by travel lockdowns around the world, the Airport Express continued to take a severe beating last month, with passenger numbers plummeting 88.5 per cent to 167,000 from more than 1.45 million a year ago.
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Hong Kong’s MTR by the numbers
For its cross-border rail services, ridership in July plunged almost 99.5 per cent to just 43,000 from more than 9.16 million year on year as the MTR Corp halted most operations on the East Rail line from early February to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
With services on the high-speed rail link to Guangzhou on hold since January amid the pandemic, July figures remained at zero.
For the MTR Corp’s intercity, light rail and bus services, patronage dropped 33.5 per cent year on year to 12.6 million from about 19 million.
