Fresh from a trip this last week, I would like to record my experiences on the MTR (Mass Transit Rail) system in Hong Kong. It is an excellent system, which is unlike Singapore's which is newer and still fraught with many breakdowns, delays and frustrated commuters due to the signalling and track faults. The MTR system when I was there worked perfectly.We can learn many lessons from how they run their train system.
The key services provided by the HK MTR system as a people mover are :
a) Quick arriving times of trains (on the average, the waiting time is only 1 - 2 minutes during peak hours)
b) Reliable train services
c) Clean and fast moving station entry and exit gantries
d) Concise announcements and signs in both English, Mandarin and Cantonese
While Singapore has all 4, 1 and 2 are at best a 'work in progress'. HK on the other hand has all 4 operating at the best levels of customer satisfaction.
Getting around HK inexpensively was my objective, and there are 3 options from the airport if you don't have anyone picking you up.
a) Take the airport express train from airport - Tsing Yi - Kowloon - Central (HK)
b) Take the airport bus to Kowloon or Central station or even your hotel
c) Take a taxi
I elected to go for a) and the Airport Express is an express train dedicated for airport passengers to and from Hong Kong and Kowloon. Fast, and very frequent, departing every 20 minutes. When I arrived on Monday evening, it was raining cats and dogs and I opted to buy the 3 days pass for HK$ 350 which included a $50 deposit returnable, and 2 airport express round trip (normally costs S$ 110), to save me the bother of buying multiple tickets within the island as well as mainland which normally costs $6 to $ 30 per trip.
Ordinarily just to take the Airport Express to and from HK Central is HK$ 110 for the Airport Express, so the rest of the 3 days costs $350 - $50 (deposit) - $110 = S$ 190.
or roughly $60 (S$ 10 and US$ 6) per day. Good value, in my opinion.
Buy this pass at the arrival hall and take the train at B2 just below the arrival hall
A taxi to the hotel on the island will normally cost HK$ 300 or more, so be prepared for the cost of that ; most cost effective is either the MTR Airport Express or the Airport Bus.
Since I arrived late in the afternoon or early evening, the Airport Express was very smooth and efficient, and I reached Central station within 30 minutes of boarding and
another 30 minutes to the Tin Hau station where my hotel was.
The next 3 days, I used the card to move around HK with no hassles of needing to stop, queue and buy tickets, although I had to take a day trip into China, the 3 day pass was well worth it.
Fast, efficient, smooth movement of people. That is HK MTR system from the numerous times I have been there.
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