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Following is a question by the Hon Tam Yiu-chung and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (April 17):
Question:
Some Tuen Mun residents have relayed that since its commissioning in August 2007, the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point (the Control Point), which connects Futian in Shenzhen, has all along been one of the major boundary crossings to the Mainland for residents in New Territories West. However, there is currently no direct means of public transport available to Tuen Mun residents travelling to the Control Point during daytime, and they can only take a green minibus (GMB) of route no. 44B or 44B1 to the Lok Ma Chau (San Tin) Public Transport Interchange first, and then change to a bus or minibus to the Control Point. Such an arrangement has caused inconvenience to the residents. On the other hand, GMBs of the two routes are permitted to access the Control Point from 11pm to 6.30am. Tuen Mun residents have all along been striving for full-day access to the Control Point by GMBs of the aforesaid routes, and the Tuen Mun District Council has also passed a motion in support of such request, but the authorities have rejected it so far. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has assessed the current daily transport demand of Tuen Mun residents for travelling to and from the Control Point, as well as whether the existing public transport services can meet that demand; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(b) of the reasons for the authorities' rejection of the aforesaid request, and whether the authorities will consider afresh allowing GMBs of the aforesaid routes to access the Control Point during daytime, or making other arrangements, in order to meet the transport demand of Tuen Mun residents for travelling to and from the Control Point; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
Currently, there are two boundary control points (BCPs) in Lok Ma Chau, namely the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point (Spur Line CP) connecting Futian Port and the Lok Ma Chau Control Point (Lok Ma Chau CP) connecting the Huanggang Port.
The Spur Line CP was originally designed to serve only railway passengers. Following a proposal raised by the Legislative Council's Subcommittee on Matters relating to Railways at its meeting on November 27, 2002, the Government subsequently agreed to build a public transport interchange (PTI) adjacent to the Spur Line CP, so that members of the public may use public transport services other than railway for cross-boundary trips at the Spur Line CP. Given its geographical constraints and the need to protect the environment nearby, the size of Lok Ma Chau Spur Line PTI (the Spur Line PTI) is not big and it can only accommodate limited public transport services. There are at present a franchised bus route no. B1 and a green minibus (GMB) route no. 75 heading for Tin Shui Wai Railway Station and Fook Hong Street in Yuen Long respectively. There is also a taxi stand at the Spur Line PTI.
The Lok Ma Chau CP is one of the major BCPs for Guangdong - Hong Kong vehicular traffic. It was originally designed for cross-boundary freight transportation without a PTI. Members of the public going to the Huanggang Port may take cross-boundary coaches or cross-boundary hire cars; or take Huanggang - Lok Ma Chau cross-boundary shuttle buses at the Lok Ma Chau (San Tin) PTI (San Tin PTI). At present, there are a number of franchised bus routes and GMB routes connecting to Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and North District and a taxi stand at the San Tin PTI. To tie in with the 24-hour passenger clearance services at the Lok Ma Chau CP, the Transport Department (TD) has since 2003 permitted access by taxis and all GMB routes (including GMB routes no. 44B and 44B1 departing from Tuen Mun) terminating at the San Tin PTI to pick up passengers at the Lok Ma Chau CP between 11pm and 6.30am daily. As the location serving as GMB/taxi termini at the Lok Ma Chau CP is the staff car park for the law enforcement agencies and the location serving as GMB/taxi waiting areas is used as the waiting area for cross-boundary coaches in the daytime, the above arrangements can only be implemented in the overnight period.
My reply to the two parts of Hon Tam's question is as follows:
(a) The Government has taken into account the need of the public (including Tuen Mun residents) for cross-boundary commuting trips when planning the public transport services at the Spur Line PTI. Given the capacity constraints of the transport and BCP facilities and in order to minimise vehicular flow where possible, commuters taking buses or minibuses to and from the Spur Line CP may have to rely on interchange en-route. The Administration will ensure that the provision of public transport feeder services and their overall arrangements are smooth to cater for the needs of passengers travelling to and from different districts. In 2012, the average number of passenger trips to and from the Spur Line CP using franchised buses, GMBs and taxis was about 52 000 per day. According to TD's survey, about 8 per cent or 4 200 of these trips terminated at Tuen Mun. Currently, Tuen Mun residents heading for the Spur Line CP may take GMB route no. 44B or 44B1 to the San Tin PTI where they can interchange to GMB route no. 75 for their onward journeys to the Spur Line PTI. Alternatively, they may take franchised bus route no. B1 in Yuen Long to go to the Spur Line CP.
The public transport arrangements connecting Tuen Mun and the Spur Line CP have been operating smoothly. The service of franchised bus route no. B1 and GMB route no. 75 is rather frequent and that enables them to function effectively as feeders. The overall arrangements should meet the transport need of the Tuen Mun residents for service to and from the Spur Line CP.
(b) We have been maintaining a dialogue with the Tuen Mun District Council on the request of local residents for direct public transport services to and from the Spur Line PTI. Given the Spur Line PTI's location in a conservation area where stringent restrictions on vehicular traffic have to be observed, the need to accommodate the increasing school bus services for cross-boundary students in recent years and the limited size of the PTI itself, it is very difficult to make space for new bus or GMB routes.
TD would continue to closely monitor the number of passengers using the Spur Line CP, as well as the mode of transport used by passengers commuting to and from the BCP. The relevant public transport services will be adjusted as appropriate to cope with the passengers' demand.
Ends/Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:57
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