MTR

Mass Transit Railway (MTR)

Overview
Locale	Hong Kong
Transit type	Heavy rail Light rail Airport Express Inter-city MTR Bus
Number of lines	Heavy rail: 10 Light rail: 12
Number of stations	Heavy rail: 93 Light rail: 68
Daily ridership	Rapid transit: 4.964 million Others: 0.660 million (November 2016)
Operation
Began operation	1 October 1910 (KCR opened) 1 October 1979 (MTR opened) 2 December 2007 (MTR and KCR operations merged)
Operator(s)	MTR Corporation
Technical
System length	Heavy rail: 174.7 km (108.6 mi) Light rail: 36.2 km (22.5 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (standard gauge – East Rail, West Rail, Ma On Shan lines, and Light Rail) 1,432 mm (4 ft 8 3⁄8 in) (almost standard gauge – all other lines)

Mass Transit Railway (MTR)
An MTR train on the Tung Chung Line
Traditional Chinese	港鐵
Simplified Chinese	港铁
Literal meaning	"Hong Kong railway"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Gǎngtiě Hakka Romanization Kóng-Thiet Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Góngtit Jyutping Gong2 tit3

The Mass Transit Railway (MTR; Chinese: 港鐵) is the rapid transit railway system of Hong Kong. Opened in 1979, the system now includes 218.2 km (135.6 mi) of rail with 161 stations, including 93 railway stations and 68 light rail stops. Operated by the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL), the MTR is one of the most profitable metro systems in the world, with a high farebox recovery ratio of 186%.

Under the government's rail-led transport policy, the MTR system is a common mode of public transport in Hong Kong, with over five million trips made in an average weekday. It consistently achieves a 99.9% on-time rate on its train journeys. As of 2014, the MTR has a 48.1% market share of the franchised public transport market, making it the most popular transport option in Hong Kong. The integration of the Octopus smart card fare-payment technology into the MTR system in September 1997 has further enhanced the ease of commuting on the MTR.

Construction of the MTR was prompted by a study, released in 1967, commissioned by the Hong Kong Government in order to find solutions to the increasing road congestion problem caused by the fast-growing Hong Kong economy. Construction started soon after the release of the study, and the first line opened in 1979. The MTR was immediately popular with residents of Hong Kong; as a result, subsequent lines have been built to cover more territory. There are continual debates regarding how and where to expand the MTR network.

As a successful railway operation, the MTR has served as a model for other newly built systems in the world, particularly in mainland China.

During the 1960s, the government of Hong Kong saw a need to accommodate increasing road traffic as Hong Kong's economy continued to grow strongly. In 1966, British transportation consultants Freeman, Fox, Wilbur Smith & Associates were appointed to study the transportation system of Hong Kong. The study was based on the projection of the population of Hong Kong for 1986, estimated at 6,868,000. On 1 September 1967, the consultants submitted the Hong Kong Mass Transport Study to the government, which recommended the construction of a 40-mile (64 km) rapid transit rail system in Hong Kong. The study suggested that four rail lines be developed in six stages, with a completion date set between December 1973 and December 1984. Detailed positions of lines and stations were presented in the study. These four lines were the Kwun Tong Line (from Western Market to Ma Yau Tong), Tsuen Wan Line (from Admiralty to Tsuen Wan), Island Line (from Kennedy to Chai Wan Central), and Shatin Line (from Tsim Sha Tsui to Wo Liu Hang).