Govt mullling to open more border points during large-scale events

Chief Secretary, Eric Chan Kwok-ki, announced on Tuesday that they have plans to set up a coordination committee and discuss extending the open hours of border crossings with the mainland for future large-scale events.

City-wide criticism was caused by the unfortunate situation of a large number of passengers waiting for cross-boundary transportation after the New Year's countdown and fireworks display.

Relevant government departments, together with representatives from the Tourism Board, MTR Corporation, and Kowloon Bus, held a meeting with the transportation industry on the matter this afternoon.

Chan spoke to the media after government officials had a meeting with representatives from the tourism and transport sectors on improving cross-border travel arrangements.

The administration minister said that after the fireworks display, a large number of mainland tourists wanted to return to the mainland through Huanggang Port, and relevant departments immediately made arrangements, including opening additional counters, adding more lanes, and dispatching more cross-border buses to assist in their return.

However, due to the large number of people leaving the region, the border crossing was congested, and the traffic flow at one point reached the San Tin Highway, preventing cross-border buses from immediately completing the northbound service and returning to the city. Passengers, therefore, had to wait in the city for an extended period of time.

Chan said that in order to prevent similar incidents from occurring again, he will host a high-level coordination meeting to ensure smooth travel across the border on special event days, and authorities will see how to optimize smother operations for cross-border coaches.

He said the government will also discuss with mainland authorities the possibility of keeping railway links open later and stepping up train services on special occasions.