MTR Discount Plan Isn't Enough, Say Lawmakers

Lawmakers from both the pro-democracy and pro-establishment camps on Friday urged the MTR Corporation to do more to ease people's hardship during the coronavirus outbreak, by extending fare discounts and dropping an annual price rise altogether.

The train operator has postponed a 2.55 percent increase in fares this year, but has warned it will add the increase onto future price rises.

Meanwhile, fares will be reduced by 20 percent for six months from July, with the government paying for half of the revenue loss, estimated at HK$1.6 billion.

But lawmaker Holden Chow, from the pro-Beijing DAB party, said he would like to see the fare cuts lasting a lot longer.

"A six-month discount is not enough. On the coronavirus issue, we don't know when it will end. We see it will be very difficult for the economy to recover and a lot of grassroots residents will suffer," Chow said.

"So I think the MTR should do more, by extending the period of the discount by six months, to one year perhaps. That would alleviate the pain of a lot of the grassroots."

Meanwhile, the pan-dems said the MTR Corporation should fully bear the revenue loss caused by the 20-percent reduction.

Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai accused the government of bias towards the rail operator, being as no subsidies are being offered to other transport companies to help them make similar fare cuts.

In Legco, the MTR's commercial director, Jeny Yeung, said the corporation is already doing the best it can to help its passengers being as it too is suffering due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We have a 40 percent loss in passengers. At the end of January, there were border closures, so we have also suffered losses … We are doing what we can," Yeung said.