'Huanggang crossings almost double those of before'

The number of travellers passing through the new Huanggang Port is, on average, almost double that of the old one, Secretary for Security Chris Tang said on Saturday. Overall operations at the crossing had, he pointed out, been smooth since its opening almost a week ago, as it heads into its first travel peak this long weekend for the Chung Yeung Festival. Taking to the airwaves, Tang said around 80,000 travellers used the crossing daily from when it opened on Monday to Thursday. “On Friday, there were more than 90,000 people – 92,000," he said. "How many more was this compared to before? There used to be about 30,000 to 40,000 travellers. “This means it is roughly 1.5 times more. On certain days, it is even double.” Despite the surge in travellers, Tang said, the average border crossing under the co-location arrangement, which features a “collaborative inspection and joint clearance” model, was taking less than five minutes in general. He revealed that more than 300,000 people had registered for the “collaborative inspection” automated channels on the Immigration Department’s mobile app since its launch on October 6. The number of people making the crossings at the Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau Spur Line checkpoints have, he pointed out,...