ENG-2013 — Page 268

Hong Kong Year Books 香港年報 All

13

Transport

Road Boundary Crossings

The four road-based boundary crossings between Hong Kong and the Mainland at Lok Ma Chau, Man Kam To, Sha Tau Kok and Shenzhen Bay Port are open daily for goods and passenger vehicles. The Lok Ma Chau Control Point, which connects to Huanggang Port in Shenzhen, operates round-the-clock. The Sha Tau Kok and Man Kam To control points are open from 7 am to 10 pm, while the Shenzhen Bay Port is open from 6.30 am to midnight. Following the reconstruction of the passenger clearance area at Wenjindu Port in Shenzhen, the clearance services for cross-boundary vehicles and passengers at Hong Kong's Man Kam To Control Point resumed full operation in August 2013.

The daily average number of vehicle trips recorded at the control points of Lok Ma Chau, Man Kam To, Sha Tau Kok and Shenzhen Bay Port during 2013 was 25,500, 4,400, 2,600 and 10,000 respectively, and the daily average number of travellers using these control points was 77,900, 3,200, 9,300 and 88,900 respectively. Most travellers using these control points take cross- boundary coaches. There is also a shuttle bus service plying between the public transport interchange at San Tin and Huanggang Port in Shenzhen via the Lok Ma Chau Control Point. Travellers who use the Shenzhen Bay Port may use the specified local public transport services there.

In 2013, about 120 companies operated cross-boundary coach services, carrying an average of about 62,500 passengers a day. The shuttle bus service at the Lok Ma Chau Control Point carried a daily average of about 26,500 passengers and the specified local public transport services at Shenzhen Bay Port carried an average of 59,000 passengers a day.

New Boundary Crossings under Construction or Planning

In 2010, the Ministry of Transport of the Central People's Government approved the preliminary design of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB), which will connect Hong Kong to the western part of Pearl River Delta. The governments of Guangdong, the HKSAR and the Macao Special Administrative Region established a Joint Works Committee of the Three Governments' to oversee the implementation of the HZMB project.

The HZMB Authority was set up in 2010 to co-ordinate the construction, operation, maintenance and management of the HZMB Main Bridge, and to implement various policies of the joint works committee. Local works within HKSAR waters continued in 2013 and will dovetail with those in the Mainland for the commissioning of the HZMB in 2016.

The Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) will reduce rail travel time between Guangzhou and Hong Kong and link Hong Kong to Beijing and other major Mainland cities via the Beijing- Guangzhou passenger line and the Hangzhou-Fuzhou-Shenzhen passenger line. It will also connect Hong Kong to cities in the Pan-Pearl River Delta region via the Mainland's Rapid Transit System now under development. Construction of the Hong Kong section of the XRL commenced in January 2010 and is in progress.

The proposed Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point (BCP) will provide efficient access to the eastern part of Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangxi Provinces via the Shenzhen- Huizhou and Shenzhen-Shantou expressways. When the new BCP is commissioned in 2018, it

220

Comments

Approved members can add comments, bookmarks, and private notes.

No comments yet.

Private Research Note

Private notes are available after approval.