Govt reviews border opening hours as tourists stranded
Security Secretary Chris Tang on Monday said the authorities are reviewing cross-border travel arrangements, after hundreds of mainland tourists faced hours of delays as they struggled to return home after watching the New Year's Eve fireworks. Many joined long queues in Tsim Sha Tsui and Prince Edward to board cross-border buses, with some giving up hope and instead waiting at MTR stations for services to resume later in the morning. Bus operators said they had bumped up their services, but the number of passengers was higher than expected. Freeman Cheung, secretary of the Hong Kong Guangdong Boundary Crossing Bus Association, said road closures for the celebrations also meant trips took much longer than usual. "After 12am, police blocked the streets in Tsim Sha Tsui, so buses couldn't go into the station. For one hour or more, no buses went into the station," he told RTHK, adding that there was also heavy traffic when the buses arrived at Lok Ma Chau. Cheung said they only managed to clear the queues at around 5am. A number of visitors vented their anger online, even vowing not to visit Hong Kong again. Asked about the situation, Tang said SAR officials are reviewing the operation of border check points with their mainland counterparts. "Currently there are border control points that are open 24 hours a day. As for the next step, we have been discussing with the relevant organisations on the mainland and assessing if we will extend operating hours of other control points," he said. New Year's Eve saw the highest number of visitors coming to Hong Kong in 2023, according to tourism minister Kevin Yeung. Some 227,000 visitors arrived in the territory, almost 200,000 of them mainlanders.