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 routine despite Hong Kong’s lines being longer. The MTRC also has an Operations Control Centre (OCC) that monitors the entire system which is paramount to the organisation’s prompt response to emergencies. Therefore, with the enhanced monitoring system, trains in Hong Kong are more effective and efficient than in Singapore.

 The article expresses that for Singapore’s railway transportation’s reliability to match Hong Kong’s MTR, they need to adopt MTR’s practices. I agree with the writer to a certain extent, that some of the practices can be implemented into Singapore’s railway, such as improving manpower in the rail industry. However, due to the difference in business model of the railway operators and population size of both country differing. As a result, it is impractical to just copy Hong Kong’s MTR without careful analysis.

First and foremost, there is a need to not only improve manpower but also expertise in the railway field. As stated by Minister Khaw Boon Wan, by 2030 there will be an anticipated 50% growth in the amount of employee in the rail industry to 15,000. He also added that Singapore has to also increase the number of rail engineers in order to facilitate with train dependability and expansion (Savita,2017).

 Secondly, the varying population size between the two countries, Hong Kong at 7.3 million while Singapore at 5.6. Therefore, there is more ridership for the MTR at 5.3 million a day (TD,2017) compared to Singapore’s 3.1 million (Tan, 2017). Which also implies the amount of money earned for the train operators differs by a fair sum. Hence it is not a fair comparison of the transport operators.

 Lastly, the business model of Hong Kong’s MTR is a rail plus property whereas Singapore’s railway operators are not. Rail plus property means profits made comes from both the operation of the train systems and the development of property (Hoe,2016). In 2014, of all the profit generated by MTR, only one-third, about 7 billion came from its’ transport operations (Kenneth Lim 2015). Thus, with this financial advantage, MTR can implement railway projects quickly without having to fight for public funds (Lincoln Leong, June 2016).
In conclusion, I feel that the government ought to be selective when attempting to implement practices taken from other countries, as there are many variables that will alter the efficiency and effectiveness when integrated into Singapore’s practices. Therefore, it is impractical to just copy Hong Kong’s MTR practices without the proper analysis of the whole situation.



References

Savita V Jayaram (2017, February 24). Singapore Rail Academy Launches to Deepen Railway Engineering Capabilities in the Region. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from http://www.hrinasia.com/recruitment/singapore-rail-academy-launches-to-deepen-railway-engineering-capabilities-in-the-region

T. C. (2017, April 22). Bus, rail ridership soars to new high. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/bus-rail-ridership-soars-to-new-high
Public Transport Statistics. (2017, January). Retrieved September 27, 2017, from http://www.td.gov.hk/filemanager/en/content_4849/table21s.pdf

H. PS (2016, December 30). The model behind HK MTR's gold standard. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/transport/the-model-behind-hk-mtrs-gold-standard

L. K. (2015, December 20). Singapore's train system: What needs to be done to ensure a smoother ride? Read more at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-s-train-system-what-needs-to-be-done-to-ensure-a-smoot-8246388. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-s-train-system-what-needs-to-be-done-to-ensure-a-smoot-8246388


L. L. (2016, June). The ‘Rail plus Property’ model: Hong Kong’s successful self-financing formula. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/capital-projects-and-infrastructure/our-insights/the-rail-plus-property-model

Lee Min Kok (29 October 2015). Dubbed 'the best in class':6 things about Hong Kong's MTR rail system. Retrieved 15 September 2017, from http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/dubbed-the-best-in-class-6-things-about-hong-kongs-mtr-rail-system#xtor=CS1-10


Comments

  1. Rachel KHY29 September 2017 at 06:44

    Hi Winfred,

    I think your summary is linked to your thesis statement and the supported points in your reader response corresponds to your thesis statement. The point shared is concise and coherent to read, Overall is neatly written. However, do noted that there are some grammatical errors and it would also be good that after every paragraph, link back to your thesis for a more rounded understanding on your points/information supported. Nice effort. Thank you.

    Rachel Ker

    ReplyDelete

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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 routine d...
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