Why lawmakers’ demands on MTR are a bridge too far
The MTR Corporation has seen better days. Lawmakers have pressed the rail operator to improve the maintenance of tracks and called for the government’s fare adjustment formula to include the company’s profits from rent, advertising and overseas investments in addition to property development.
All this sounds like lawmakers are seeking to shrink MTR Corp’s coffers. But the rail giant is a publicly listed company, and we should remind ourselves that aside from being responsible to us commuters, it is accountable to its investors and non-government shareholders.
The company’s profits fell 20.8 per cent year on year, even accounting for increases in station revenue. Even as society gradually returns to normal after the pandemic, revenue from station operations and retail cannot be expected to increase significantly. Rather, as railway extension work – on the East Rail and Tuen Ma lines, for example – ramps up, costs may rise.
Lawmakers asking so much of a business seem to be stretching MTR Corp’s social mandate a bit too far. Since the government is the company’s majority shareholder, the government will pocket most of the profits anyway.
Regarding the recent incidents on railway lines, it is clear that the MTR needs to step up maintenance. However, if trackside checks are to be boosted while quality is maintained, additional labour and machinery must be acquired. These acquisitions take a long time – for example, the Q-trains being rolled out on the Island and Tsuen Wan lines were ordered nearly a decade ago.
Some advocate an increase in metal fatigue check frequency to once a week from every two weeks, which does not seem possible to achieve in the short term. Given the route length of about 250km, MTR crews would need to check about 36km of tracks every night, double the current length, a formidable distance to complete over five precious hours overnight.
Though investments may be made now, increases in maintenance efficiency may not be reaped until much later, so patience is a virtue here. Railway operations are traditionally a large-scale, long-run business, and it is hard to predict growing demand years in advance.
Furthermore, if lawmakers want to curb fare rises, how can they expect more money to go to maintenance and upgrades? There’s no need to fret – MTR Corp is not an abominable monster that gobbles up your hard-earned cash while cutting corners on safety. Let us not take our world-class system for granted, and make demands without considering that it takes time for major improvements to be made.
Koios Pang, Sham Shui Po