Summary draft

In the article “ Dubbed the ‘best in class’: 6 things about Hong Kong's MTR rail system”, Lee (2015) reported that Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan claims that Hong Kong’s MTR is the ‘best in class’. Mr Khaw then further complimented Hong Kong’s rail system stating that SMRT and SBS transit should adopt Hong Kong’s practices. Examples are the Hong Kong government’s privatization of the MTR Corporation(MTRC) in 2000, which led to a decrease in budget and an increase in competency of the public transportation. This provides room for the MTRC to allocate 37% of their profits to rail “maintenance, renewals and service improvements”, which is adequate as compared to Singapore’s 19%, as claimed by Mr. Khaw. Consequently, the MTR is more punctual and experience less delays and breakdowns than the MRT. The MTR has 155 stations across nine prime travelling lines over 221km where maintenance is conducted via a mobile transportation unit that scans for irregularities through “ultrasonic techniques” once every 3 days. This is more extensive than Singapore’s inspection routine despite Hong Kong’s lines being longer. The MTRC also has an Operations Control Centre (OCC) that monitors the entire system which is paramount to the organisation’s prompt response to emergencies. Therefore, with the enhanced monitoring system, trains in Hong Kong are more effective and efficient than in Singapore.

The article addresses that SMRT has under-invested in it's rail maintenance as compared to the MTRC. However, based on SMRT's revenue data, nearly half is used for maintenance and related expenses unlike the 19% stated in the article which has failed to reflect the other maintenance related budget under accounting. Therefore, a comparison between the rail maintenance investment of SMRT and MTRC is illogical for both have different ways of managing their budgets and expenditure.

Reference
Kok, L. M. (2016, January 19). Dubbed 'the best in class': 6 things about Hong Kong's MTR rail system. Retrieved September 20, 2017, from http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/dubbed-the-best-in-class-6-things-about-hong-kongs-mtr-rail-system#xtor=CS1-10

Lim, P. J. (2017, March 17). Rail maintenance expenses could reach 50% of rail revenue in 2016: SMRT. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/rail-maintenance-expenses-could-reach-50-of-rail-revenue-in-2016-8239112

TODAY Online - Rail maintenance expenses to account for half of rail revenue: SMRT. (n.d.). Retrieved September 24, 2017, from https://www.gov.sg/news/content/today-online-rail-maintenance-expenses-to-account-for-half-of-rail-revenue-smrt