Tracks lead to Shenzhen for MTRC As lucrative development in Hong Kong has been put on hold for the rail firm, it must look elsewhere for its growth.

(From South China Morning Post)

Most cities struggle to find adequate funding for their subway systems: digging tunnels is always a lot more costly than laying a road. That Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway Corp (MTRC) has managed to build a top-tier rail network, earn consistent profits and list its shares have long marked it as a global oddity.

The reality, however, is that those profits came not from its rail operations but through a more valuable commodity - commercial and residential development rights atop its stations.

Now, however, the government has placed a moratorium on the MTRC and its cousin, the Kowloon Canton Railway Corp (KCRC), from …