MTR announced on the 28th that according to the fare adjustment mechanism, the MTR fare prices in 2025/26 will remain unchanged.
The company will continue to provide passengers with constant fare discounts, including discounts for elderly, children, qualified students and disabled people. Taking last year as an example, the relevant investment exceeded HK$3.1 billion. In addition, the company will continue to provide promotions for different fares to benefit office workers, including the $0.5 transfer discount for green dedicated minibus and "metro tickets", and continue the various "monthly access" and "morning discounts" plans for one year.
MTR fares are based on the direct drive equation under the fare adjustment mechanism every year. The equation uses objective data to reflect Hong Kong's overall economic performance and sets up an "upper affordability" arrangement, stipulating that any actual fare adjustment shall not be higher than the value of the median monthly income of household households during the same period.
MTR Company Executive Director - Hong Kong Passenger Transport Service Yang Meizhen said that the freezing of MTR fares this year shows that the mechanism can take into account the affordability of citizens. The above mechanism cycle is as an example, that is, within the six years from 2017 to 2022, MTR fares will be frozen three times and reduced in price according to the mechanism, which fully demonstrates that the mechanism reflects the economic situation. MTR will continue to uphold the mission of "promoting the city forward", provide citizens with high-quality, reliable and convenient railway services, balance financial sustainability, invest resources to update and maintain railway assets, and at the same time promote new railway projects to continue to create value for community development and the future of Hong Kong.
According to the yearly changes in the nominal wage index of the transportation industry in December 2024 released by the Government Statistics Department today (+3.1%) and the yearly changes in the yearly changes in the comprehensive consumer price index in December 2024 released earlier (+1.4%), the equation of the fare adjustment mechanism is taken into account, and the 0.8%2 reduction caused by productivity factors is taken, the calculated fare adjustment range is +1.45% (see the attachment for details about the calculation process).
Since the amplitude is between ±1.5%, according to the mechanism, MTR will transfer the amplitude to the following year, that is, when the fare adjustment in 2026/27 is calculated together. As for the total adjustment range originally scheduled to be postponed to this year's implementation, it will also be postponed to 2026/27 according to the mechanism arrangement.
Since the merger of the two railways, the average annual fare adjustment of MTR has been lower than the average annual inflation rate in Hong Kong during the same period.
