# Mass Transit Railway Ordinance/Part I

PART I Preliminary
1. Short title and commencement
(1) This Ordinance may be cited as the Mass Transit Railway Ordinance.
(2) This Ordinance shall come into operation on a day to be appointed by the Secretary for Transport by notice in the Gazette.
​2. Interpretation
(1) In this Ordinance, unless the context requires otherwise—
“appointed day” (指定日期) means the day designated as the appointed day under section 3;
“Commissioner” (署長) means the Commissioner for Transport;
“Corporation” (地鐵公司) means the MTR Corporation Limited;
“extension” (延長部分) means, in relation to the railway, an extension provided for in a scheme authorized under the Railways Ordinance (Cap. 519);
“franchise” (專營權) means the franchise granted under section 4;
“franchise period” (專營期) means the period for which the franchise is granted under section 4, as extended under this Ordinance;
“inspector” (視察主任) means a person appointed as an inspector under section 26;
“Mass Transit Railway” (地下鐵路) means the railway system known as the Mass Transit Railway and indicated on plans endorsed by the Secretary and deposited by the Corporation with the Land Registry from time to time, or any part of that system;
“Mass Transit Railway Corporation” (地下鐵路公司) means the entity of that name established by section 3(1) of the repealed Ordinance;
“MTR Corporation Limited” (地鐵有限公司) means the entity of that name incorporated under the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32);
“MTRC” means the Mass Transit Railway Corporation;
“operating agreement” (營運協議) means any agreement entered into between the Corporation and the Secretary acting on behalf of the Government which is declared by its terms to be an operating agreement for the purposes of this Ordinance or to be an agreement amending or supplementing such an agreement, as having effect from time to time;
“railway” (鐵路) means the Mass Transit Railway;
“railway premises” (鐵路處所) means—
    (a) any area, space or building occupied by the Corporation which is designed, equipped or set apart for the carriage of passengers by train or for affording facilities incidental to the carriage of passengers by train; and
    (b) any train on premises specified in paragraph (a);
“repealed Ordinance” (已廢除條例) means the Mass Transit Railway Corporation Ordinance (Cap. 270);
“Secretary” (局長) means the Secretary for Transport;
​“service” (服務) means railway service;
“transport interchange” (運輸交匯處) means any area, space or building delineated in plans certified by the Commissioner and deposited by the Corporation in the Land Registry under section 31.
(2) Reference in this Ordinance to construction of the railway is a reference to undertaking every stage of the process beginning with its design and planning and ending when the railway is brought into operation.
3. Appointed day
The Secretary may, by notice in the Gazette, designate a day to be the appointed day for the purposes of this Ordinance.
PART II Grant and Extension of Franchise
4. Grant of franchise to Corporation to operate railway
(1) Subject to this Ordinance, the Corporation is granted the franchise, for a period of 50 years from the appointed day—
    (a) to operate the Mass Transit Railway, including any extension to the railway;
    (b) to construct any extension to the railway.
(2) The terms and conditions agreed between the Government and the Corporation as having effect with respect to the franchise granted under this section are those set out in the operating agreement.
5. Extension of franchise
(1) At any time or times during the franchise period, but not later than 5 years before the expiry of that period, the Corporation may apply to the Chief Executive in Council for an extension of the franchise.
(2) An application for extension of the franchise under this section—
    (a) shall be made by notice to the Secretary; and
    (b) shall be accompanied by all materials that the Corporation wishes to put forward in support of the application.
(3) The Secretary shall submit to the Chief Executive in Council a report setting out his recommendation as to whether, having regard to all relevant considerations (including any provision of the operating agreement relating to the extension of the franchise), the Corporation’s franchise should be extended.