'Daily Huanggang traffic hit 130k at long weekend'

The new Huanggang border crossing facility is operating smoothly but still has room for improvement, Secretary for Security Chris Tang said on Friday, as he revealed that daily passenger traffic hit 130,000 during the three-day Chung Yeung festival holiday. Speaking on a radio programme, Tang said the new port is handling about 83,000 passengers on ordinary days – more than double the volume of the old crossing. During the long weekend holiday period, the average daily figure reached 130,000, with the busiest period around midday on Saturday, seeing waits of up to one hour from alighting to completing clearance, the security minister said. "On the 17th, the number of people exiting was nine times higher than normal. Usually, during peak hours, the wait is 15 minutes; now, it’s nine times longer than peak hours – if you calculate it that way, you might have to wait two hours. Also, don’t forget that this time, our border crossing allows direct entry into the mainland. Previously, after exiting Hong Kong, you still had to queue again on the mainland," he said. Tang stressed that the "one-stop" inspection system still makes the process faster than before, as travellers only need to go through a single check. The minister...