The MTR Has a 99.9% Reliability Rate

In Hong Kong, the subway system is managed by the Mass Transit Railway Corporation, better known by its acronym, the MTR. Operating since 1979, when the first section of the Kwun Tong Line opened between Kwun Tong and Shek Kip Mei, the MTR’s heavy rail network includes, as of 2026, 99 stations—excluding the 68 light rail stops and the single high-speed rail terminus—over a total length of 174.4 kilometres (108.6 miles).

In 2025, Hong Kong’s MTR recorded an average daily ridership of 4.175 million passenger journeys on its subway system alone (4.78 million including the light rail and high-speed rail). This means that for the year 2025 alone, 1.55 billion passenger journeys were recorded on the system, making it one of the busiest subway networks in the world.

Moreover, the MTR consistently records a 99.9% reliability rate. This means that out of every 1,000 passengers, 999 arrive at their destination within 5 minutes of their scheduled time. In fact, the MTR is regularly cited as the most reliable subway system in the world.

This performance is particularly impressive considering that trains on the system’s busiest lines—the Tsuen Wan Line, Island Line, and Kwun Tong Line—follow each other at a frequency of one train every 2 to 3 minutes during peak hours, leaving very little room for delays.