PR052/15 29 May 2015 MTR Festive Discount Introduced in Fare Promotions Package 2015/2016 of over $500 million Plus Over $300-million for New Light Rail Vehicles and Buses MTR Fares to be Adjusted from 21 June On six designated festive days spread over Christmas 2015, Lunar New Year 2016 and Easter 2016, Adult Octopus holders traveling on the MTR will enjoy concessionary fares equal to Child Octopus fares while other concessionary Octopus holders will pay a flat fare of $1 per domestic journey 1. The new MTR Festive Discount promotion is the highlight of the MTR Corporation s fare promotions package 2015/2016 announced today (29 May 2015). Other 2015/2016 fare promotions include approximately five months of the 10% Same-Day Second-Trip Discount from 21 June to 30 November 2015 using the $220 million the Corporation has set aside under the Profit related Fare Concession Scheme and the Service Performance Arrangement. The MTR City Saver promotion will be extended for one year to 30 June 2016 and the Early Bird Discount Promotion, which had been put on trial previously, will also be extended for one year to 31 May 2016. As a bonus, passengers will receive a $50 MTR Shops Cash Coupon for each purchase of an MTR City Saver in July and August this year or any of the July and August Monthly Pass Extra. Overall, the promotions package will bring fare savings of over $500 million to passengers. This is in addition to the $2.2 billion worth of ongoing fare concessions and promotions MTR provides every year. (Details in Appendix 1) In addition to fare promotions, the Corporation is continuing to respond to community views to channel more resources into service enhancement initiatives. In conjunction with the Government s Positioning Review of Public Transport Strategy Study, MTR is conducting a feasibility study on enhancing the carrying capacity of Light Rail and will include different measures such as the purchase of new Light Rail vehicles. In light of this, MTR will set aside a lump sum of over $300 million to invest in the purchase of 10 additional Light Rail vehicles and 10 buses with the final details to be determined based on the result of the study. The vehicle-purchase plan is on top of the $6 billion that MTR spends on maintaining and renewing its railway and other operational assets every year. The Corporation announced its 2015/2016 fare promotions package and new investments in its Light Rail and Bus fleets when it published the new MTR fares for 2015. In accordance with the Fare Adjustment Mechanism (FAM), individual MTR, Light Rail and MTR Bus fares will be adjusted from Sunday, 21 June 2015 with the weighted average adjustment of all fares combined equaling the overall fare adjustment rate of +4.3%. 1 Except the Airport Express, MTR Feeder Bus, journeys to or from Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau stations and East Rail Line First Class Premium. -more-
On implementation of FAM, the fares for 2.5% of all passenger trips will remain unchanged; fares for 41% of all passenger trips will be adjusted upwards by 10 or 20 cents; 25.4% of passenger trips will see a 30 or 40-cent adjustment; 11.9% will be adjusted by 50 cents and 19.2% will be adjusted by more than 50 cents. New fare charts are now available at Customer Service Centres of all MTR stations. Fare charts can also be downloaded from the MTR website at www.mtr.com.hk. Photo Caption: - End Ms Jeny Yeung, Commercial Director (middle), Ms Maggie So, Deputy General Manager Projects & Property Communications (left) and Mr Raymond Yuen, General Manager Marketing and Planning (right) of MTR Corporation announce introduction of the "MTR Festive Discount" in the 2015/2016 fare promotions package and explain adjustments to individual MTR fares in 2015.
Appendix 1 New and Extended Fare Promotions for 2015/2016 Five-Month 10% Same-Day Second-Trip Discount Promotion After completion of the FAM review in 2013, a Profit-Related Fare Concession Scheme and a Service Performance Arrangement were introduced to set aside money for the 10% Same-Day Second-Trip Discount promotion through which passengers can directly share in the Corporation s profitability. For 2015, under these two arrangements, a total of $220 million will be shared with passengers through the 10% Same-Day Second-Trip Discount promotion ($200 million under the Profit-Related Fare Concession Scheme and $20 million under the Service Performance Arrangement ). This discount will run for about five months from 21 June 2015 to 30 November 2015. One-Year Extension of MTR City Saver MTR City Saver launched in June 2014 has proven to be a popular promotional ticket among frequent travellers taking medium, long-distance cross-harbour journeys. Holders of MTR City Saver tickets are entitled to 40 rides within 30 days from the day of first use between the 57 designated stations in the urban area. This promotion will be extended for one year to 30 June 2016 with its price adjusted to $415 starting from 1 July 2015. With this promotion, passengers may enjoy an 11% to 25% discount on fares for typical journeys after the 2015 fare adjustment. The MTR City Saver ticket is valid for use at all stations on the Tsuen Wan Line, Island Line, Kwun Tong Line and Tseung Kwan O Line, as well as stations in the urban area of the Tung Chung Line, East Rail Line and West Rail Line. Bonus MTR Shops Cash Coupon Passengers will receive a bonus $50 MTR Shops Cash Coupon for each purchase of an MTR City Saver in July and August this year or any of the July and August Monthly Pass Extra.
MTR Festive Discount Promotion For the first time, MTR offered a special Lunar New Year promotion this year through which Adult Octopus holders enjoyed travelling on concession fares which equal to Child Octopus fares while other concessionary Octopus holders enjoyed a flat fare of $1 per domestic journey (except the Airport Express, MTR Feeder Bus, journeys to or from Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau stations and East Rail Line First Class Premium). As it has proven to be popular, MTR will extend the same promotion to other major holiday periods in the coming year. The MTR Festive Discount promotion scheme will be offered during the Christmas (26 and 27 December 2015), Lunar New Year (9 and 10 February 2016) and Easter (25 and 26 March 2016) holiday periods. One-Year Extension of Early Bird Discount Promotion Programme MTR launched a 9-month Early Bird Discount Promotion Trial Programme in September 2014 in an effort to address the relatively high train loading situation during the morning peak period. The programme aims to encourage passengers to use MTR outside the morning peak period with commuters holding Adult Octopus being able to enjoy a 25% fare discount when they exit from any of 29 core urban stations between 7:15am and 8:15am from Mondays to Fridays (except Public Holidays). This promotion will be extended for one year from 1 June 2015 to 31 May 2016.
Joint MTR and KMB Scheme for Monthly Pass Extras Passengers MTR also launched an 8-month joint trial scheme with Kowloon Motor Bus Co. (1933) ( KMB ) in October 2014 under which holders of designated MTR Monthly Pass Extras do not need to pay extra fares when travelling on specified trips of six selected KMB morning bus routes running parallel to the MTR East Rail Line and West Rail Line (see below) on Mondays to Fridays (Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays excluded). The scheme will be extended for one year to 31 May 2016. MTR Monthly Pass Extra Kowloon Motor Bus Route Service Hour Tuen Mun Nam Cheong Monthly Pass Extra Or Tuen Mun Hung Hom Monthly Pass Extra 252B 260B 261B 267S Tuen Mun (Handsome Court) > Tuen Mun Town Centre > Tuen Mun (Sam Shing) > Kowloon Station Tuen Mun (Siu Hong Court) > 7:20 am 7:35 am 7:50 am 7:20 am 7:32 am 7:44 am 7:55 am 7:35 am 7:45 am Sheung Shui East Monthly Pass Extra 270P 271P Sheung Shui > Kowloon Station Tai Po (Kau Lung Hang) > (Canton Road) 7:15 am 7:30 am 7:15 am 7:45 am * The scheme will be provided subject to the limitation in the passenger carrying capacity of the scheduled buses to operate on the designated routes.