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MTR For the terminus of Tung Chung Line and Airport Express, see Hong Kong Station (MTR) The MTR or Mass Transit Railway (HKSE:0066) is the metro system of Hong Kong. It is operated by MTR Corporation Limited (地鐵有限公司), a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and included in the Hang Seng Index.
Routes The network has six lines and 50 stations:
History of the MTRMTR SystemDuring the 1960s, the government of Hong Kong felt a need to accomodate increasing road traffic predicted for future as Hong Kong's economy continued to grow strongly, and appointed British transport consultants Freeman, Fox, Wilbur Smith & Associates to study the transport system of Hong Kong, releasing the "Hong Kong Mass Transport Study" in September 1967, which proposed the construction of an underground mass transit system in Hong Kong. In 1970, a network of underground system with four lines was laid out and planned. The four lines were to be the Kwun Tong Line, Tsuen Wan Line, Island Line, and East Kowloon Line. However, the lines that were constructed were slightly different in many ways than the lines that were propsed by the "Hong Kong Mass Transport Study," and in 1972, the Hong Kong government authorised the construction of the Kwun Tong Line, in turn became the first part of the system to open. In 1973 the government slightly reduced the size of the system, which stopped the construction of the East Kowloon Line, and renamed it the Modified Initial System. The Hong Kong government also set up the Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC) to replace the Mass Transport Provisional Authority to supervise the whole construction, and on 1 October 1979 the MTR was partially opened, with trains running from Shek Kip Mei to Kwun Tong. The Tsuen Wan Line started service in 1982, which was followed by the opening of the Island Line in 1985, the Airport Express in 1998, and the Tseung Kwan O Line in 2002 MTR CorporationThe Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC) was established in 1975 as a government-owned statutory corporation in order to oversee the initial construction of the Hong Kong Mass Transport System, and later to run and manage the functioning transport system. On 30 June 2000 the MTRC was succeeded by the Mass Transit Railway Corporation Limited (MTR). As with the MTRC, the MTR's principal business is to operate the mass transit railway system. Following a successful initial public offering, the MTR was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 5 October 2000, however the government retains a majority stake in the MTR. Besides railway operations, the MTR is also actively involved in the development of key residential and commercial projects above existing stations and along new line extensions as well as many other commercial activities associated with the railway. The most recent of such developments was the large Maritime Square shopping centre development which was built in conjunction with Tsing Yi station. The MTR is also involved in the letting of retail and poster advertising space, ATM banking facilities, and personal telecommunication services. It also provides consultancy services to organizations worldwide. There has been some discussion of merging the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC), which is also government-owned, and the MTR to make the territory's transport system more efficient. The MTR backs such a merge while the KCRC opposes the plan. In March 2004, the Hong Kong government officially encouraged the two organizations to merge. Property ManagementMain article: MTR Property Property is one of the main businesses of the MTR. The MTR tries to develop suitable sites related to their new railway projects and their existing railway. For instance, the reclaimed land situated in West Kowloon that is owned by the MTR will be developed into an area with residential, office and retail space. Two of Hong Kong's largest banks, HSBC and the Bank of China are to have office towers there. Furthermore, will be more than 7,000 housing units in the development. The MTR also owns several shopping centres, as well as the new International Finance Centre.
Fares Ticket machines sell tickets valid for only one ride between pre-determined stations Currently, there are two different fare classes on the MTR: Adult and concessionary. Only children below the age of 12, senior citizens 65 years or older, or full-time Hong Kong students between the ages of 12 and 25 qualify for the concessionary rate. Unlike some metro systems, where a flat fare is paid no matter the distance travelled, there is an additional surchange for every station between the initial station and destination station on the Hong Kong MTR. Adult fares range from HK$4 to $26. Concessionary fares are usually half the adult fare, and range from HK$3 to $13. A single journey on the Airport Express from Hong Kong station to the Airport station costs HK$100, $50 concessionary rate.  Entry gates, where fare is paid There are three payment methods:
Octopus Cards An Octopus add value machine in an MTR station. People add money to their Octopus cards using these machines. Since 1997, the MTR has operated the Octopus (八達通, literally "eight-direction thoroughfare") Access Control System as the main payment method for travel on the MTR system. Octopus cards are rechargeable, contactless smart cards, thus money is digitally stored in the card, and the amount can be automatically calculated and deducted by Octopus card readers. The system has proven so popular, it has been extended to different services such as other transport operators like the KCRC, minibus services, regular buses such as the KMB, Citybus, supermarkets, and fast food restaurants. It has the potential to be further developed in other fields of services. The older, traditional magnetic ticketing system is also still in use for single journeys. Shopping CentresThe MTR Corporation invested heavily to develop large scale shopping centres around MTR stations. An example of such a shopping centre is Maritime Square (青衣城) located at Tsing Yi station. Maritime Square is a nautical-themed mall in which there are supermarkets, boutiques, bookstores, a cinema, and restaurants. Since Tsing Yi station serves as the transportation hub for Tsing Yi, Maritime Square is also easily accessible by other transportation means including buses and taxis. Other shopping centers developed and managed by the corporation include Paradise Mall (杏花新城), Telford Plaza (德福廣場), and Luk Yeung Galleria (綠楊坊). Trains of the MTRMain Article: Trains of the MTR Urban Route TrainsThe MTR system's trains can be divided into two categories: Urban Route Trains and the trains used for the Tung Chung Line and the Airport Express. The Urban Route Trains are further divided into "M-Stock" built by Alstom Transport and the more modern "K-Stocks" built by the Korea Rolling Stock Company (Rotem-Mitsubishi collaboration). Each train on the MTR has eight cars, and rail gauge is 1.432 metres. Each train is powered by 1500 volt direct circuit electricity. See also
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de:Mass_Transit_Railway zh:香港地鐵 Categories: Metros in Asia | Companies of Hong Kong | Transportation in Hong Kong |
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