XN000022-1994-01-13 — Page 8

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 1994

TRANSPORT

LIKE THE INCREASE,

MR STEVEN POON (THROUGH INTERPRETER): MR GOVERNOR, THE OPERATORS ALWAYS HAVE FARE INCREASES. PUBLIC OPERATIONS RAILWAY CORPORATIONS CITE INFLATION AS THE REASON FOR FARE THEN PRIVATE COMPANIES SAY THAT THEIR PROFITS HAVE NOT REACHED A SATISFACTORY LEVEL, SO THEY HAVE INCREASES. SO THE CONSEQUENCE IS THIS, OUR TRAVELLING EXPENSES ARE RISING, SO THERE IS INFLATION PUSHED UP AS WELL. MR GOVERNOR, HAS THE GOVERNMENT REVIEWED THE PRESENT SYSTEM, CONSIDERING A NEW METHOD TO MONITOR THESE TRANSPORT OPERATORS, TO MONITOR THEIR FARE INCREASES TO SEE IF THEY ARE REASONABLE AND THEN TO JUDGE WHETHER THE CITIZENS CAN SHOULDER THESE INCREASES EVERY YEAR? THANK YOU.

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GOVERNOR: WE ARE AWARE, NOT LEAST BECAUSE OF YESTERDAY'S DEBATE, BUT AS A RESULT OF OTHER DEBATES AS WELL, WE ARE AWARE OF THE INTEREST OF THIS COUNCIL AND OF THE INTEREST OF DISTRICT BOARDS AND MUNICIPAL COUNCILS IN THE QUESTION OF THE FARES CHARGED BY THE MTRC AND THE KCRC, OF COURSE WE'RE AWARE OF THAT BUT WE'RE ALSO AWARE OF THE PHILOSOPHY ON WHICH OUR RAILWAY COMPANIES WERE ESTABLISHED. A PHILOSOPHY WHICH HAS ENABLED THEM, I THINK IT'S GENERALLY RECOGNISED TO BE A FACT, TO OPERATE JUST ABOUT THE BEST PUBLIC RAILWAY SYSTEM ANYWHERE IN THE REGION AND ONE OF THE BEST IN THE WORLD. THEY ARE DIFFERENT FROM PRIVATE TRANSPORT OPERATORS, THEY'RE NOT UNDER PRESSURE TO MAXIMISE PROFITS, THEY ARE UNDER PRESSURE TO GIVE A QUALITY SERVICE AND TO INVEST HEAVILY IN ITS IMPROVEMENT AND THE ABILITY TO SET FARES WHICH ARE REQUIRED TO ENABLE THEM TO BORROW MONEY, TO INVEST IN THE SERVICE, THEIR ABILITY TO SET FARES WITHOUT THE SORT OF POLITICAL CONTROLS THAT YOU MENTION IS I THINK AT THE HEART OF THEIR OPERATING STRATEGY.

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WE COULD EASILY POLITICISE THE BUSINESS OF FARE SETTING AND THEN WE COULD HAVE A RAILWAY SYSTEM AS GOOD OR AS BAD AS SOME OF THOSE THAT EXIST IN WESTERN EUROPE OR NORTH AMERICA. I DON'T THINK THAT IS A DIRECTION IN WHICH THIS COUNCIL WOULD WANT US ΤΟ GO. WHAT'S INTERESTING IS TO LOOK AT HOW "INFLATIONARY" THE FARE INCREASES CHARGED BY THE KCRC AND THE MTRC HAVE BEEN OVER THE YEARS. KOWLOON CANTON RAILWAY HAS FOR THE LAST SIX YEARS ASKED FOR FARE INCREASES WHICH WERE LOWER THAN THE INCREASE IN THE OVERALL LEVEL OF INFLATION, THEY'VE DONE THAT YEAR AFTER YEAR. THE MTRC HAS AN EVEN LONGER RECORD OF DOING THAT, FOR THIRTEEN YEARS THEY'VE ASKED FOR FARE INCREASES WHICH WERE LOWER THAN THE INCREASE IN THE OVERALL RATE OF INFLATION. I'M BOUND TO SAY THAT IF EVERY PROVIDER OF SERVICES IN HONG KONG, IF EVERY PRODUCER OF GOODS IN HONG KONG HAD BEEN ABLE ΤΟ OFFER THAT, WE'D HAVE A MUCH BETTER INFLATION RECORD AND WOULD BE EVEN MORE COMPETITIVE IN THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY. NONE OF THAT MEANS THAT THE RAILWAY CORPORATIONS SHOULDN'T BE IN A POSITION IN WHICH THEY HAVE TO JUSTIFY TO THE PUBLIC AND TO THE ADMINISTRATION AND TO THIS COUNCIL WHAT THEY'RE DOING. WE'RE ENCOURAGING THEM TO DEVELOP THEIR LIAISON WITH THEIR PASSENGERS, WE'RE ENCOURAGING THEM TO BE MORE OPEN ABOUT THEIR FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS AND THE HONOURABLE MEMBER WILL KNOW ABOUT THE OBLIGATION THAT WE'RE PLACING ON THEM IN THAT REGARD. WE'RE, AS YOU KNOW, WE'VE DECIDED THAT THE OMBUDSMAN SHOULD BE ABLE TO LOOK AT THEIR SERVICES AS WELL AS THOSE PROVIDED ELSEWHERE IN THE COMMUNITY AND I'M PREPARED TO GO FURTHER THAN THAT, FOR EXAMPLE IT'S BEEN SUGGESTED THAT THE CONSUMER COUNCIL SHOULD HAVE A LOOK AT OUR RAILWAY CORPORATIONS AS WELL. I'M PREPARED TO LOOK AT THAT SORT OF PROPOSAL BUT I DON'T THINK I WOULD BE DOING, I DON'T THINK THE ADMINISTRATION WOULD BE DOING THE COMMUNITY A SERVICE IF WE WERE TO AGREE TO ARRANGEMENTS WHICH WOULD TURN THE DECISION ON FARE INCREASES EVERY YEAR INTO A POLITICAL FOOTBALL. I DON'T THINK THAT WOULD MAKE SENSE, I THINK IT WOULD THREATEN A SERVICE WHICH, WHILE NOT PERFECT, WHO IS PERFECT?, WHILE NOT PERFECT IS CERTAINLY ONE OF THE BEST PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEMS IN THE WORLD.

/MR W S

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