MTR boosted by relaxed social-distancing measures amid easing of Covid-19 third wave, passenger numbers pass 100 million in September

Hong Kong metro records 28.5 per cent bump on August, but numbers still far below those of last year

People returning to office also helped raise figures, but Airport Express still struggling amid global shutdown

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Commuters leave a train in Hong Kong. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 1:57pm, 26 Oct 2020Updated: 11:30pm, 26 Oct 2020

Passenger numbers on Hong Kong’s metro rebounded by more than 28 per cent in September from August, after workers returned to their offices and social-distancing measures were relaxed as the third wave of Covid-19 cases eased.

According to the MTR Corporation, patronage for domestic services was more than 100 million last month, down 20.4 per cent from about 127 million a year ago.

However, compared with 78.5 million in August, the figure represented a rebound of 28.5 per cent.

With global travel almost at a standstill, the Airport Express continued to take a beating, as passenger numbers plummeted 82.7 per cent to 179,000 in September, down from more than 1 million a year ago. However, the figures rose by almost 21 per cent compared to 148,000 in August.

For the MTR Corp’s intercity, light rail and bus services, numbers dropped 27 per cent year on year to about 13.4 million, down from 18.3 million. But ridership on the services was up 23 per cent compared with almost 11 million in August.

On its cross-border rail services, patronage in September dropped 99.5 per cent, to just 41,000, from about 8 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. The high-speed rail link to Guangzhou has been closed since late January.