HONG KONG 2005

Cross-boundary vehicular traffic increased by 4 per cent in 2005 over the previous year, averaging 40 200 vehicles a day. Total cross-boundary passenger traffic by rail, road and ferry increased by 5 per cent compared with 2004, reaching 453 100 passengers a day.

Lo Wu, the only rail boundary crossing into the Mainland, operates between 6.30 am and midnight every day. It handled an average of 248 400 passengers daily during the year, and more than 371 800 on festive days. A widened passageway of the Lo Wu Control Point was opened in January.

There are three road crossings between Hong Kong and the Mainland: Lok Ma Chau, Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok. The Lok Ma Chau crossing has been operating round-the-clock for goods vehicles since November 1994 and for passenger traffic since January 2003. The Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok crossings are opened daily to goods and passenger vehicle traffic from 7 am to 10pm and from 7 am to 8 pm respectively.

The daily average number of vehicle trips recorded at Lok Ma Chau, Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok during the year were 30 500, 7 400 and 2 300 respectively.

The daily average numbers of cross-boundary travellers that used the Lok Ma Chau, Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok crossings were 120 800, 8 400 and 6 000 respectively. Those travellers crossed the boundary by taking cross-boundary coaches or shuttle buses that plied between Huanggang in Shenzhen and the Public Transport Interchange at San Tin. In 2005, about 64 000 passengers took the cross-boundary coaches provided by some 100 companies, while 47 100 took the shuttle buses each day. Apart from the six fixed-scheduled routes running between Huanggang and Hong Kong and the long-haul routes between major Mainland cities and Hong Kong, cross-boundary coach services travelling between Hong Kong Disneyland and Huanggang as well as some Mainland cities commenced operation in September to facilitate cross-boundary visitors to go to the theme park.

A trial scheme for taxis and green minibuses to operate at the Lok Ma Chau Control Point between midnight and 6.30 am was introduced in March 2003. During those hours, northbound passengers may take taxis and green minibuses to the control point direct and then cross the boundary by shuttle buses, while southbound passengers may board taxis and green minibuses at the control point after immigration clearance. The starting time of the trial scheme was advanced from midnight to 11 pm in January.

Two cross-boundary bridges, one at Lok Ma Chau Control Point and the other at Sha Tau Kok, were opened to traffic in January, which helped improve traffic flow. Four additional southbound car kiosks were installed at the Lok Ma Chau Control Point and started operation in September. Works to improve the San Tin Public Transport Interchange, including the construction of the new terminal building with air-conditioned passenger waiting facilities, were completed in early 2005.

To meet the continuous growth in cross-boundary traffic, new road and rail crossings have been planned in coordination with the Mainland authorities. The Hong Kong section of the fourth road crossing, the HK-SWC was completed in late 2005 and will be opened in 2006 to link Hong Kong with Shekou in Shenzhen. The second rail passenger crossing at Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang will be completed, together with the Spur Line, in 2007. The Government and Mainland authorities are pursing the advance work for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link.

Cross-boundary ferry services to about 18 Mainland ports and Macao are provided by seven operators at the Hong Kong-Macao Ferry Terminal in Sheung Wan and the China Ferry Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui. The number of cross-boundary travellers using these services to travel to and from Mainland ports totalled 6.6 million and the number to and from Macao 12.6 million.