Passengers advised to plan early for cross-boundary journeys

Passengers who intend to take the Lok Ma Chau - Huanggang cross boundary shuttle bus service before and during the Lunar New Year holidays should plan their journeys early and if possible, make use of the train service to cross the boundary at Lo Wu.

A Transport Department spokesman said today (February 7): "The demand for the shuttle bus service is usually most peaky in the morning and evening and the number of passengers using the service will increase significantly during the above period.

"To avoid overcrowding of passengers at Lok Ma Chau Transport Interchange, passengers are strongly advised to make their journeys during less busy periods in late morning or early afternoon.

He said the spreading out of passengers throughout the day would help relieve overcrowding of passengers at the terminus and would facilitate the bus operator to regulate the service more effectively to suit passenger demand.

The cross boundary shuttle bus service operates between 6.30 am and 11.30 pm and its last departure from Lok Ma Chau Public Transport Interchange is scheduled at 11.30 pm.

" Operating hours for the shuttle bus will not be extended," he said.

"As the carrying capacity of the buses is limited, the service may not be able to fully accommodate all passengers, if they concentrate on using the shuttle bus service.

"Therefore, cross boundary passengers are also encouraged to use train services as far as possible during the above period as the train is a mass transit carrier and Lo Wu Control Point has a higher handling capacity," he said.

Passengers who rush for the last few departures in late evening may not be able to board the shuttle buses successfully. In this respect, they are advised to call the enquiry hotline 2471 0792 before departing for the Lok Ma Chau terminus.

The spokesman added that passengers should get prepared for longer journey time and waiting time because of road improvement works at the vicinity of the Lok Ma Chau Control Point, which will possibly affect road and pedestrian traffic.

The spokesman also urged tourist companies who fed patrons to the Lok Ma Chau terminus for transfer to the shuttle bus to evenly spread out their trips throughout the day to help reduce their patrons' waiting time for the service.

Past experience showed that some tourist companies operated a large number of tourist coaches to the terminus before 9 am at the start of the long holidays, thus causing obstruction in the vicinity of the terminus.

The tourist companies are also encouraged to divert patrons to Sheung Shui KCR Station to use rail service for journeys to Lo Wu, the spokesman said.

Transport Department will closely monitor both local and cross-boundary traffic during the holiday and will take prompt action whenever necessary.

End/Thursday, February 7, 2002