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Following is a question by the Hon Howard Young and a written reply by the Acting Secretary for Transport, Mr Kevin Ho, in the Legislative Council today (November 8):

Question: In order to relieve the heavy congestion at immigration counters at Lo Wu, especially at weekends and during holidays, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows if the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation ("KCRC") has conducted feasibility studies respectively on:

(a) the provision of through train service between Hung Hom and Shenzhen, with immigration clearance for the Hong Kong side conducted at Hung Hom; and

(b) the addition of a stop in Shenzhen for the through train service between Hung Hom and Guangzhou;

if so, of the results of the studies; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

Madam President,

The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) operates a non-stop through train service between Hung Hom and Lo Wu - the Lo Wu Express, as a chartered service during long holidays and festive periods. At the Hung Hom Station, passengers first complete their immigration clearance for Hong Kong side before they get on the Lo Wu Express. Upon arrival at the Lo Wu Station, passengers proceed directly to the Joint Inspection Building at Shenzhen for immigration and customs clearance.

Five Lo Wu Express trains chartered by local travel agencies were operated during the 2000 Chinese New Year Holidays and Ching Ming/Easter Holidays. Each Lo Wu Express train carried 600 to 1,100 passengers.

The Lo Wu Express trains require prior booking and the service frequency is limited. The service cannot be operated on a more regular basis due to operational constraints and its effects on East Rail train schedules. KCRC can only allocate limited number of slots everyday for the Lo Wu Express to depart from the Hung Hom Station. Other schedules are fully taken up by the Hong Kong - Guangzhou and Hong Kong - Beijing through train service. Besides the limited number of departures, the Lo Wu Express is less popular largely because passengers must make their way to the Hung Hom station and that it is less frequent compared with the normal East Rail service which departs on average about every five minutes for Lo Wu.

At present, the Joint Inspection Building at Shenzhen is not connected to the train station at Shenzhen, the proposal of an additional stop in Shenzhen for the Hong Kong-Guangzhou through trains is not practicable at this stage because of lack of customs and immigration facilities at the Shenzhen Railway Station.

End/Wednesday, November 8, 2000

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