'Two-hour extension at Lo Wu can satisfy travellers'
Transport secretary Lam Sai-hung said on Wednesday that keeping the Lo Wu border crossing open for two extra hours on Lunar New Year's Eve and the second day of the Lunar New Year should satisfy most travellers. The Lo Wu checkpoint will be open until 2am on February 9 and 11,  and the connecting East Rail Line will extend its services on these two days. But Lam said it was not ideal to permanently extend the service hours on the East Rail Line. "If we extend service hours, that means there's a shorter window for maintenance. Most of the time, the first train departs around 5am. Some maintenance and inspection may have to be moved to another day. So we need to strike a balance between railway safety and traveller demand," he told an RTHK radio programme. Shenzhen Bay will also be open 24 hours a day from February 9 to 13 for both vehicles and people to cross the border. Lam said the round-the-clock opening of the Shenzhen Bay checkpoint will allow tourists to be more flexible in their planning, which could benefit the dinner and late-night business. Meanwhile, Timothy Chui, who heads the Tourism Association, said he believed the extended opening hours of the two checkpoints would give mainland tourists enough time to return to Shenzhen after watching the new year's parade and the fireworks. And he believed the long queues for cross-border bus services earlier this month would not happen again. A cross-border bus company, E&E, said it would increase its services during the festive period to facilitate overnight cross-border travel.