Hong Kong will extend the operating hours of the Lo Wu and Shenzhen Bay checkpoints and increase public transport services on New Year’s Eve, the government said on Friday.

To cope with a likely surge in cross-boundary travelers, the authorities also pledged to limit private cars from entering major checkpoints to reduce congestion.

The measures are intended to prevent thousands of visitors getting stranded as happened after the New Year countdown on Jan 1, 2024.

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On Friday, a government interdepartmental working group on festival arrangements announced that on New Year’s Eve, the Shenzhen Bay Control Port will open overnight. Cross-boundary bus service operators will enhance services between stops in downtown to Shenzhen Bay between Dec 31 and Jan 1.

The Lo Wu Control Port, which connects the border and the city’s downtown by rail, will open until 2am instead of closing at midnight. The last train bound for Lo Wu from Admiralty will depart at 12:56am on New Year’s Eve, according to MTR Corp.

After the Lo Wu Control Point’s closure in the early hours of Jan 1, passengers can still arrive at Sheung Shui station and transfer to special bus route N73 to the Lok Ma Chau (San Tin) Public Transport Interchange, where they can board shuttle buses to the Huanggang/Lok Ma Chau checkpoint.

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The Huanggang/Lok Ma Chau checkpoint and the Hong Kong port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge will operate 24 hours as usual. The services of the non-stop buses connecting to the two checkpoints, as well as the HZM Bridge shuttle bus, will be enhanced, too.

Kowloon Motor Bus and Citybus said they will enhance the services of over 100 routes during the holiday break, particularly those connecting to checkpoints, to help cross-boundary passengers.

In the small hours of Jan 1, only private cars with Closed Road Permits for Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang Port will be allowed to drive through that port. All private cars with permits of Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang, Shenzhen Bay, Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok checkpoints will be able to use the Shenzhen Bay port during the early morning hours of Jan 1.

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On New Year’s Eve in 2023, nearly 480,000 people watched the fireworks display over Victoria Harbour and attended the New Year countdown. Thousands of Chinese mainland tourists were stranded in Tsim Sha Tsui and Prince Edward in the early hours due to the lack of cross-boundary buses.

Some other visitors were forced to spend the whole night at Sheung Shui Station, waiting the first train bound for Lo Wu or Lok Ma Chau stations.

Contact the writer at stephyzhang@chinadailyhk.com