Transport service to be strengthened at Mid-Autumn Festival

Public transport services, particularly those for Causeway Bay, the Peak, Repulse Bay, Stanley and Shek O will be strengthened at Mid-Autumn Festival (September 12) to cater for the demand to be generated by people rushing for a good view of the moon.

Both MTR and Peak Tram service will be operated overnight from September 12 to the following morning.

KCR East Rail northbound service will be extended to 2 am while the southbound service extended to 1.30 am. The last departure for all LRT routes will be made at 1 am on September 13 while the trams will provide service till 2.08 am.

Over 100 bus or minibus routes will strengthen or extend service and about 30 special routes will be introduced.

Several roads in the above mentioned places such as Lockhart Road, Jaffe Road, East Point Road, Great George Street, Paterson Street, Gloucester Road, Peak road, Mount Austin Road, Beach Road, South Bay Road, Stanley Main Street and Stanley Market Road will be either fully or partially closed.

As a consequence of the road closure, parking spaces, carparks, bus termini, and PLB and taxi stands affected will be suspended.

A Transport Department spokesman appeals to the public to make use of the public transport services and pay attention to the radio or TV announcements.

The spokesman reminded those intended to cross the boundary by train or by cross-boundary shuttle bus on September 12 and 13 that they should make their journeys as early as possible to avoid last minute rush and avoid busy hours.

"We would also like to advise tourist companies which feed patrons to the Lok Ma Chau terminus for transfer to the shuttle bus that they should evenly spread out their trips throughout the day on both September 12 and 13.

"No service extension has been planned for the shuttle bus which operates between 7.30 am and 9.30 pm. Past experience shows that passengers rushing for the last few departures may not successfully board the bus," he said.

All government and private tunnels will remain fully open to traffic tomorrow night.

Subject to the demand, ferry services will be strengthened.

"The Transport Department will be closely monitoring the traffic situation over the territory and make adjustments when required," said the spokesman.

Details of the traffic and transport arrangements concerning the Mid-Autumn Festival can be found at http://www.igsd.gov.hk/td/.

For enquiries about the bus services, please call the following hotlines of the operators:

End/Sunday, September 10, 2000