Dubbed 'the best in class': 6 things about Hong Kong's MTR rail system (Reader's Response)
In the article “Dubbed the ‘best in class’: 6 things about Hong Kong's MTR rail system”, Lee (2015) reported that Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan claims that Hong Kong’s MTR is the ‘best in class’. Mr Khaw then further complimented Hong Kong’s rail system stating that SMRT and SBS transit should adopt Hong Kong’s practices. Examples are the Hong Kong government’s privatization of the MTR Corporation(MTRC) in 2000, which led to a decrease in budget and an increase in the competency of the public transportation. This provides room for the MTRC to allocate 37% of their profits to rail “maintenance, renewals and service improvements”, which is adequate as compared to Singapore’s 19%, as claimed by Mr Khaw. While the MTR has 155 stations across nine prime travelling lines over 221km, maintenance is conducted via a mobile transportation unit that scans for irregularities through “ultrasonic techniques” once every 3 days. This is more extensive than Singapore’s inspection routi...