Interestingly enough, there was some controversy when the Mass Transit Rail was being first developed and built. There is a lot of superstition surrounding digging underground because in traditional Chinese culture, that is where spirits are believed to reside. Superstition is quite common in Hong Kong, and I have heard plenty of ghost stories about my own campus, so it is no surprise that this transfers to the M.T.R. system, too.
I would say just from my own observations that a highly effective public transportation system in Hong Kong is necessary given it's the fourth most densely populated place in the world. There are 7.4 million people living on 430 square miles of land, which is a tight squeeze!
