Ticket gates at key interchange stations have been removed one year after the merger The MTR has continued to be one of the few profitable public transport systems in the world. In June 2001, MTR was added to the Hang Seng Index.Īt the time of the initial public offering, the company was operating with a surplus of HK$360 million (US$46.1 million), which had increased from a surplus of HK$278 million (US$35.6 million) in 1997. On 5 October 2000, the company was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with 600,000 shareholders. The offering was for one billion shares, but this was increased to 1.15 billion due to high demand. On 11 September 2000, the financial secretary of the Hong Kong Government, Sir Donald Tsang, announced the partial privatisation of MTR Corporation Limited. Following a successful initial public offering, the MTRCL was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 5 October 2000, however the government is still the majority stakeholder in the MTRCL. As with the MTRC, the MTRCL's principal business is to operate the mass transit railway system. On 30 June 2000, the MTRC was succeeded by the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL, 地下鐵路有限公司).
The Mass Transit Railway Corporation ( Chinese: 地下鐵路公司) was established on 22 September 1972 as a government-owned statutory corporation to build and operate a mass transit railway system to meet Hong Kong's public transport needs.