Passengers wait for the train at Lo Wu Station of MTR’s East Rail Line, Hong Kong on July 19, 2023. (J. LU / CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG - MTR Corp will hold a "Thank You Day" on Saturday and provide half-fare discounts to passengers in select routes while running more frequent train trips on a number of rail lines.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Hong Kong’s railway operator said passengers will enjoy on Saturday a 50 percent discount with their Octopus card for every trip on the MTR, Light Rail and MTR Bus running in northwest New Territories, or when they pay by QR code for travel on the heavy rail network.

The discount also applied to cross-boundary trips running to and from Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau stations on the East Rail Line, the railway operator said.

MTR Corp said passengers will enjoy on Saturday a 50 percent discount with their Octopus card for every trip on the MTR, Light Rail and MTR Bus running in northwest New Territories, or when they pay by QR code for travel on the heavy rail network

Seven MTR lines - including the Island Line, South Island Line, Tsuen Wan Line, Kwun Tong Line, Tuen Ma Line, East Rail Line and Tung Chung Line - will run more frequent train trips on Saturday, with a total of 370 train trips added, the MTR said, adding that more coupled-set Light Rail vehicles will also be used to increase carrying capacity.

It will be the fifth “Thank You Day” for this year to thank passengers for their support, the MTR added.

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Holiday services enhanced

The railway operator also announced that starting from Sunday, regular train services will be enhanced on the Tseung Kwan O Line, Tuen Ma Line and South Island Line on Sundays and public holidays for the convenience of residents who live near these lines.

For the Tseung Kwan O Line, train frequency between Tiu Keng Leng station and LOHAS Park station will be increased from every 12 minutes to every 10 minutes from 8 pm to 12 midnight, while train frequency between North Point station and Po Lam station will be increased from every six minutes to every five minutes during the same period.

People walk during the peak hour at the Hong Kong MTR station on March 1, 2023. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)

Train frequency on the Tuen Ma Line from 1 pm to 4:30 pm and from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm will be enhanced from every 7 minutes to every 6 minutes.

The frequency on the South Island Line will be increased from every 7.5 minutes to every six minutes between 4 pm and 5 pm, and from every five minutes to every 4.5 minutes between 5 pm and 7 pm.

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The MTR said it has been closely monitoring the operation of each rail line, passengers’ traveling patterns and patronage for timely adjustments to train service and will continue to adjust train service based on actual demand and train operations.