Chapter 14: Cross-Boundary Traffic

Lo Wu, the only rail boundary crossing to the Mainland, operated near capacity in 2001, handling an average of 245 220 passengers daily. During festive seasons, the daily volume of passengers exceeded 326 000. Its original operating hours were between 6.30 am and 11.30 pm. To cater for the increasing numbers of cross-boundary passengers between Guangdong Province and Hong Kong, the operating hours at the crossing were extended from 11.30 pm to midnight daily from December 1. In addition, a number of improvement projects at the Lo Wu Boundary Control Point, such as the widening of the passenger lane and installation of jet-fans on the Lo Wu footbridge and Other improvement works, including air-conditioning and expansion of the Departure Hall, will commence soon.

There are three road crossing points between Hong Kong and the Mainland — at Lok Ma Chau, Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok. From December 1, the Lok Ma Chau crossing has been open to goods vehicles round-the-clock and to passenger traffic between 6.30 am and midnight daily. The Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok crossings open daily to both goods vehicles and passenger traffic from 7 am to 10 pm and from 7 am to 8 pm, respectively.

The road crossings handled an average total of 31 035 cross-boundary vehicles daily in 2001, 1 per cent higher than in the previous year. The majority of the traffic comprised goods vehicles, or 81 per cent of the total. The average daily vehicular traffic was 21 803 at Lok Ma Chau, 6 939 at Man Kam To and 2 293 at Sha Tau Kok.

Regarding passenger numbers, the average daily flows were 34 401 at Lok Ma Chau, 2 934 at Man Kam To and 3 604 at Sha Tau Kok. During the year, 1 016 daily coach crossings between Hong Kong and the Mainland were provided by 81 companies.

The shuttle bus service introduced in March 1997 between Huanggang in Shenzhen and the Public Transport Interchange in San Tin carried an average 14 824 passengers daily in 2001. The shuttle buses begin operations at 6.30 am and the last service is at 11.50 pm, to tie in with the opening hours of the Control Point.

Construction works to provide a larger covered passenger holding area at the Public Transport Interchange began in September and were scheduled for completion in 2002. A programme to replace the entire fleet of shuttle buses with larger vehicles also began in September and would upon completion in 2002 increase the capacity of the service significantly.

Phase II of improvement works at the Lok Ma Chau Control Point were in progress and scheduled to be completed in 2003. These works include expansion of the Control Point Building, provision of a one-lane north-bound flyover at the exit of the Control Point, installation of X-ray machines for inspection of goods and container vehicles and additional coach lay-bys.

To meet the anticipated growth in cross-boundary traffic, new road and rail crossings have been planned in co-ordination with the Mainland authorities. These include a fourth road crossing at the Hong Kong/Shenzhen Western Corridor. A second rail passenger crossing at Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang will be provided upon the commissioning of the Sheung Shui to Lok Ma Chau Spur Line in 2007.

Cross-boundary ferry services to about 20 Mainland ports and Macau operate from the China Ferry Terminal and the Macau Ferry Terminal. In 2001, the sea passenger throughput for Mainland ports and Macau totalled 6.5 million and 11.4 million, respectively. The China Ferry Terminal has 13 berths and the Macau Ferry Terminal 12 berths.