Checkerboard Hill

On my February 2024 visit to Hong Kong I noticed something odd one Saturday when travelling on the MTR – something called ‘Thank You Day’ when fares were half price. So why is a train operator expressing gratitude towards passengers?

The ‘Thank You Day’ page on the MTR website didn’t really give me a good answer.

50% Fare Discount on Thank You Day

To express our gratitude for your continuous support, passengers can enjoy 50% fare discount for every fare-paying trip using Octopus on the MTR, Light Rail and MTR Bus; or by QR code on the MTR heavy rail network on 24 February 2024.

Octopus: The offer is not applicable to First Class Premium on East Rail Line, Airport Express or MTR Feeder Bus. The offer can be used in conjunction with other fare promotions. Fare discount will be calculated separately. However, the total offer(s) The amount will not be higher than the fare paid for that trip. The fare discount will be rounded up to the next 10 cents.

And their ‘Thank You Day’ media release was more focused on the extra services they were running for the Spring Lantern Festival.

MTR to Launch Half-fare “Thank You Day” on 24 February 2024
8 February 2024

The MTR Corporation will hold a “Thank You Day” on 24 February 20242 (Saturday) to offer half- fare discount to thank passengers. Coinciding with the Spring Lantern Festival, about 370 train trips on various MTR lines will be added on that day to cater to additional patronage with the fare discount.

On 24 February, passengers can enjoy a 50% discount3 for every trip with their Octopus on the MTR, Light Rail and MTR Bus running in Northwest New Territories, or when they travel with a QR code on the heavy rail network. The half fare also applies to cross-boundary trips running to and from Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau stations on the East Rail Line. Passengers can also enjoy the half fare together with any interchange discount, Fare Saver discount and the 25% discount on connecting journeys with Monthly Pass. The half-fare discount on “Thank You Day” is not applicable to MTR rides paid with contactless credit card or debit card.

Six MTR lines including the Island Line, South Island Line, Tsuen Wan Line, Kwun Tong Line, Tuen Ma Line and East Rail Line will run more frequent train trips than regular Saturdays on “Thank You Day” with a total of about 370 train trips added. For the Light Rail, more coupled-set Light Rail vehicles will be used to increase carrying capacity (please refer to Annex 1 for details of the train service enhancements). The Corporation will deploy extra staff at MTR stations to assist passengers and closely monitor train operations to suitably adjust train service and manpower arrangements when necessary.

“As the community celebrate the Spring Lantern Festival on 24 February, we hope the half fare and more frequent train trips will provide convenience to those who are out and about meeting up with families and friends,” said Ms Jeny Yeung, Managing Director – Hong Kong Transport Services of MTR Corporation.

Posters will be put up at different locations in the MTR network while the Corporation will provide information about the “Thank You Day” discount to passengers through various channels including MTR Mobile, MTR website and its official Facebook page.

But hidden in the footnotes was a short explanation of what ‘Thank You Day’ was.

According to the MTR Fare Adjustment Mechanism, once the Service Performance Rebate funding pool reaches the pre-defined amount, the MTR Corporation will arrange a “Thank You Day” on a specific Saturday or Sunday

So what is a Service Performance Rebate funding pool, and what is the pre-defined amount? Luckily Chinese-language Wikipedia goes into more detail on their “港鐵感謝日” (“MTR Thank You Day”) page.

“MTR Thank You Day” is a promotion offered by the MTR Corporation following changes to the Fare Adjustment Mechanism in 2023. Under the new mechanism, MTR will need to allocate corresponding amounts as discounts based on the company’s service performance.

If there is a delay of 31 minutes or more on a service operated by MTR Corporation, and the delay is caused by MTR Corporation’s operational process, MTR Corporation will be required to pay into the Service Performance Rebate funding pool for passengers. The amount paid is as follows:

Delay time	Penalty
31–60 minutes	$1 million
61–120 minutes	$2 million
121–180 minutes	$3 million
181–240 minutes	$8 million
Every additional hour after 4 hours	$4 million

During peak hours (8-9am and 6-7pm, Monday to Friday, the above penalty is increased by 20%), the maximum penalty for each incident is HK$40 million, which is a 12-hour delay.

For every HK$25 million accumulated in the “Service Performance Rebate” account in the previous year, one day must be designated as a “Thank You Day”.

In response to the MTR Corporation’s service performance in 2022, it is necessary to allocate $100 million for fare concessions. On March 21, 2023, MTR announced that it would offer discounts on April 8 and 9, and May 13 and 14 of the same year. As there was a balance left over from the four-day discount, another discount was offered on August 19.

Based on the MTR Corporation’s service performance in 2023, a fare concession of $25 million will be allocated. On February 8, 2024, MTR announced that it would launch a discount on February 24 of the same year.

So I suppose it’s less of a ‘Thank You’ and more of a ‘Please Forgive Our Delays’ day.