Real-estate, retail, etc, are important parts of "the model"... but note that many Japanese private railroads do not cross-subsidize, and their rail divisions a

Real-estate, retail, etc, are important parts of "the model"... but note that many Japanese private railroads do not cross-subsidize, and their rail divisions are profitable on their own. [I do not know about the HK MTR.] In that sense, the various divisions in this model are more like symbiotic organisms, with each changing the environment in ways that allow the others to be more efficient: convenient rail transit makes nearby retail and real-estate (much) more attractive, and the traffic from popular real-estate and retail increases rail usage (significantly).