MTR Corp to cut fares by 1.7 per cent starting this summer to help Hong Kong residents ‘ride out tough times’ during Covid-19 pandemic

Price cut beginning on June 27 is first in more than a decade and comes after an existing fare rebate scheme expires in March

Company says reduction reflects economic realities facing residents, but together with other fare promotions will cost more than HK$900 million

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The company is making the cut despite posting a record deficit of HK$4.8 billion in 2020. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Published: 7:43pm, 29 Mar 2021Updated: 10:18pm, 29 Mar 2021

Hong Kong’s rail operator will cut ticket prices by 1.7 per cent this summer in its first reduction in more than a decade as the economy continues to limp along during the coronavirus pandemic.

The MTR Corporation revealed on Monday that the reduction would begin on June 27. It last raised fares by 3.3 per cent in 2019.

The company is making the cut despite posting a record deficit of HK$4.8 billion (US$617 milion) in 2020, falling into the red for the first time since going public in October 2000. An existing scheme backed by the government allowing commuters to claim back up to 20 per cent of the fare for each trip is due to end in March and is unlikely to be extended.

But the rail giant has decided to provide a 5 per cent rebate for every trip taken between April 1 and June 26.

Under a fare-adjustment mechanism deal between the MTR Corp and the government, the majority shareholder, ticket price changes are calculated using the inflation rate and a wage index for transport workers. The operator pointed to the 0.7 per cent year-on-year drop in inflation in December and the 1.5 per cent annual decrease in transport workers’ salaries.

The reduction is the first since the formula was implemented when the MTR Corp merged with the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation in 2007.

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