Hong Kong vows transport review after 1000s of mainland tourists stranded following New Year’s Eve celebrations
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s security chief Chris Tang has said the authorities will review transport and border-crossing arrangements after thousands of mainland Chinese tourists were left stranded in the city following the New Year’s Eve celebrations.
As of 10 pm on Sunday night, some 223,000 tourists had arrived in Hong Kong – the highest single-day arrivals of 2023. A total of 195,888 visitors came to the city from mainland China – some 88 per cent of total arrivals, but thousands were stranded overnight trying to return to the mainland.
That followed New Year’s Eve celebrations that saw more than 479,000 people view the fireworks display on each side of Victoria Harbour.
But more than a thousand tourists were still stuck at a bus stop in Prince Edward in the early hours of New Year’s Day waiting for cross-border buses meant to take visitors to the Huanggang Control Point in Shenzhen, local media reported.
Huanggang was the only control point that maintained border-crossing services between Hong Kong and Shenzhen after midnight on January 1.
Police officers stationed at the bus stop told tourists that there were “no more tickets,” Ming Pao reported.
The tourists were advised to take the MTR – which remained operational throughout the night – to Sheung Shui station, then taxi to the Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau Spur Line checkpoints.
“[E]ven though the cross-boundary bus operators had deployed additional vehicles, visitors still had to wait for a longer time for cross-boundary coaches in the urban area,” a department spokesperson said in a statement on Monday.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Secretary for Security Tang said a cross-departmental review would be conducted to prevent a repeat of Sunday’s incident.
“We currently have checkpoints that operate 24 hours a day. As for the next step, we are discussing with mainland bodies about … whether the arrangement can be extended to other checkpoints,” he said in Cantonese.
Stranded
At Sheung Shui, meanwhile, many of those who had gathered at the station were seen sleeping on the ground as they waited for the first cross-border train on Monday morning. Mainland tourists were also seen at the cross-border bus station on Austin Road, forming a queue that spanned hundreds of metres, according to local media.
“[T]he service operators had already increased the number of vehicles in accordance with the Transport Department’s recommendations,” the department said. “The [department] is concerned about the long waiting time for cross-boundary visitors and will review the situation and take follow-up action.”
Hong Kong Guangdong Boundary Crossing Bus Association Secretary Freeman Cheung told local media that coach operators were not able to meet passenger demand which had “exceeded expectations”, adding that road closures also exacerbated traffic jams.
“It doesn’t matter how many trips we add; we’ve all become victims,” he said, adding that what should have been a 45-minute journey had been extended to more than two hours.
Executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association Timothy Chui told local media outlet HK01 that authorities should have been able to predict the traffic conditions. The fact that the tourists had to wait all night for the next morning’s train had “undermined” Hong Kong’s image, he said.
Chui suggested that the government have the Lo Wu control point be operational around the clock to meet passengers’ needs during the Lunar New Year period.
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