With an average weekday patronage of about 5.9 million passengers, MTR is regarded as one of the world's leading railway operators for safety, reliability, customer service and cost efficiency.

The MTR Corporation was established in 1975 as the Mass Transit Railway Corporation with a mission to construct and operate an urban metro system. The sole shareholder was the Hong Kong Government.

The Company was re-established as the MTR Corporation Limited in June 2000 after the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government sold 23% of its issued share capital to private investors in an Initial Public Offering. MTR Corporation shares were listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong on 5 October 2000.

The Corporation marked another major milestone on 2 December 2007 when the operations of the other Government-owned rail operator, the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, were merged into the MTR, heralding a new era in Hong Kong railway development.

The merged rail network comprises ten railway lines and the Airport Express serving Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories. In addition, a Light Rail network serves the local communities of Tuen Mun and Yuen Long in the New Territories while a fleet of buses provide convenient feeder services

For journeys beyond Hong Kong, MTR commenced service in September 2018 of the 26-km Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High Speed Rail (Hong Kong Section). Running from Hong Kong West Kowloon Station, the High Speed Rail connects Hong Kong to the national high speed rail network of over 29,000km in length, and passengers can conveniently travel directly to 58 destinations in the Mainland of China without interchange.

Passengers can also travel with ease from Hong Kong to Guangdong Province, Beijing and Shanghai using the MTR's intercity railway services.