Hong Kong Rail Fares

The letters page in the South China Morning Post is usually good for cranks and general weirdness. Unfortunately, the newpaper refuses to keep its letters online more than one day, so they are completely unlinkable, even if you are a subscriber.

On Thursday, there was this classic letter from a lady (I think, based on the name) from Tsim Sha Tsui:

It is, of course, in reference to the recent opening of the East Tsim Sha Tsui (ETS) station. The fare from ETS to Hung Hom is HK$ 3.9 and for such a short journey, some people have complained. If you look at East Rail Fare Table, you can see that this is HK$ 0.70 more than the journey from hung Hom to MongKok. Truly a princely premium.

However, going back to Ms. Daswani's letter, fares on Hong Kong's heavy rail systems (MTR and KCR) are generally distance based with some premiums based on crossing certain barriers. The trams, with their HK$2.00 flat fare are an exception, and not really applicable.

There are premiums based on crossing the boundary (i.e. going to Lo Wu and soon to be Lok Ma Chau), and crossing the harbour. The boundary crossing premium is about HK$15.00 and the harbour crossing premium is about HK$6.00.

When looking at the cost of a particular fare, you also have to bear in mind any alternative routes. For the new ETS station, it now offers a route from Kowloon Tong to Tsim Sha Tsui in direct competition with the MTR route. The KCR route costs HK$5.60 for that journey, while the MTR costs HK$5.60 as well. It seems obvious, therefore, that the KCRC fare is correct, allowing users to determine if the time savings from the shorter route will affect their route choice.

To suggest that the fares are based on the property values of the destination station is completely ludicrous. If that were true, you'd pay twice as much to go to Central and Causeway bay, and the MTR would probably have to give you money to go to Kowloon Bay and Kwun Tong!