Hong Kong minister urges travellers to avoid late-night peak at new Lok Ma Chau checkpoint
Hong Kong's Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki advised travellers to avoid crossing the border during late-night peak hours after severe congestion at the new Lok Ma Chau checkpoint. He said the congestion was due to a surge in passengers and private cars, not design flaws, and defended frontline staffing
Hong Kong's Chief Secretary, Chan Kwok-ki, has urged travellers to avoid crossing the border during the late-night peak period to minimise waiting times, following severe congestion at the new Lok Ma Chau checkpoint and the adjacent San Tin Highway over the weekend of 24-25 October.
Speaking on 28 October, Chan said the overall processing capacity of the new checkpoint had not exceeded its limit, but certain hours were overloaded. He attributed the congestion to a large number of passengers and private cars arriving at the same time, and stressed that it was not a design problem with the checkpoint.
Responding to reports that frontline staff had complained of manpower shortages and that no one was available to answer helpline calls, Chan acknowledged that frontline personnel worked under great pressure. However, he explained that when passenger and vehicle flows reached peak hours, the terminal building was extremely busy and all staff had to prioritise clearing travellers at the frontline before handling other logistical tasks.
Chan also noted that previous drills were designed to ensure equipment functioned properly and to test system capacity, but they could not prevent or avoid congestion caused by too many people crossing the border at the same time.
