Readers Respond Final Draft

In the article “Dubbed 'the best in class': 6 things about Hong Kong's MTR rail system”, (Lee Min Kok, 2015) states that Hong Kong’s MTR is one of the most profitable system Corporation in the world. Lee also commented that Singapore’s SMRT and SBS should use MTR as a reference point for railway operations. While MTR has a total of 155 stations that stretches over a distance of 221km, passengers rarely experience delay even during peak hours due to high train frequency. Lee also mentioned about the “on-time” rate for MTR, saying that a small percentage of passengers in Hong Kong (0.1%) encounter delays compared to Singapore (4%). Investments of over HK$6 billion have been made on high maintenance cost and service improvements to keep the system well operated which takes up about a third of MTRC’s funds. Lastly, the system is being controlled by an Operation Control Centre that responds instantly to emergencies. Therefore, with this advanced monitoring system, it shows that Hong Kong’s MTR is foremost one of the most effective train system in the world.

Based on the points elaborated about Hong Kong’s MTR, I agree that it is a good benchmark for railway operation for many countries to follow but it is impractical for Singapore to use this as a benchmark due to the differences in population size and business strategy in both countries.

Firstly, Hong Kong has a population size of 7.3 million with a yearly population growth rate of 0.85% whereas Singapore’s population is 5.7 million with a yearly population growth rate of 1.54%. In transport statistics, more than 5 million passengers in Hong Kong use MTR daily compared to Singapore’s SMRT with only 152,000 passengers per day (Lay, 2016). Since almost more than 70% of Hong Kong’s population uses MTR daily, this means that the profit that MTR earns from the passengers is much more then Singapore’s SMRT. Therefore, with this financial advantage MTR will always be one extra mile ahead of SMRT. Where MTR can implement development improvement projects at ease.

Secondly, Hong Kong’s MTR business strategy is based on a model called “rail plus property” while Singapore’s SMRT business strategy depends entirely on rail services. In the article “The ‘Rail plus Property’ model: Hong Kong’s successful self-financing formula”, (Lincoln Leong, 2016) explains the reason why “rail plus property” is able to make MTR’s property-value increase. Where by the Hong Kong government provides MTR with land development rights which allows MTR to earn additional profits from private developers that builds properties on MTR rail lines. Therefore, SMRT is at a disadvantage in profit earning compared to MTR’s.

In conclusion, I still agree that Hong Kong’s MTR is a very good example to follow, however it is unreliable to fully copy MTR’s practices without proper research and comparison of different factors like business profits and funds. SMRT should also analyse and implement selective methods from other railway operations of different countries that will help improve their operations.

References:

Kok, L. M. (2016, January 19). Dubbed 'the best in class': 6 things about Hong Kong's MTR rail system. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/dubbed-the-best-in-class-6-things-about-hong-kongs-mtr-rail-system#xtor=CS1-10

Lay, B (2016, May 19). How successful is Hong Kong’s MTR compared to S’pore’s MRT? Unbelievable. Out of this world. Retrieved from https://mothership.sg/2016/05/how-successful-is-hong-kongs-mtr-compared-to-spores-mrt-unbelievable-out-of-this-world/

Teng, A (2015, October 28). Rail maintenance expenses to account for half of rail revenue: SMRT. Retrieved from http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/rail-maintenance-expenses-account-half-rail-revenue-smrt?singlepage=true

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