Herein is the fourth report of the MTR Corporation’s (MTRC) work in progress towards best practice in sustainable development. In the following pages we review our performance, mark achievements and reflect on our shortfalls for the 2004 financial year. We address the road ahead both within our operations, in transforming our mindset to develop a world-class enterprise, and, externally, as a growing corporation expanding both business disciplines and operations in mainland China and in Europe.

It has been a learning year for us and a time to pause and deliberate on our future strategy. We are faced with events and opportunities that will significantly alter the company's footprint as we know it today. To evolve our programme for corporate citizenship and sustainable business practices, we have focused this past year on reviewing and strengthening the necessary corporate strategy and supporting management infrastructure to meet the opportunities and risks in the years ahead.

The 2004 report has been revamped to allow our readers better comparability as well as a focus on specific rail transport industry issues in sustainable development. As in previous years, we have applied GRI Guidelines in the preparation of this report. We have structured the online version of this report to interface with other corporate documents available on our website, www.mtr.com.hk. This format gives a snapshot of our sustainability strategy and activities supported by interactive page links that bring in-depth treatment and measurable indicators on our progress for the year.