This is the 1595th issue of Hong Kong One Day
Hong Kong people's enthusiasm for going north is undiminished, and the railway department will add relevant services
With the New Year's Day holiday approaching in the mainland, the MTR announced that the Hong Kong section of the high-speed rail will increase the number of trains between West Kowloon Station and Futian Station from 74 to 98 per day from the 10th of next month, and postpone the departure time of the last train of some short-distance trains.
MTR said that according to the arrangements of relevant mainland departments, this Friday (29th) will start pre-selling tickets for high-speed rail cross-border trains that will run from the 10th of next month. Under the new arrangement, the last train from West Kowloon Station to Futian Station will be extended to 11pm, from Futian Station to West Kowloon Station to 10:31pm, and from Guangzhou East Station to West Kowloon Station until 8:50pm.
At the same time, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed rail will add 22 EMU trains during the New Year's Day. According to the Shenzhen railway department, the peak traffic period of the New Year's Day holiday in the mainland lasts for five days, from December 29 to January 2, 2024, and it is expected that more than 3 million passengers will be transported by then, and more than 5,900 trains will run during the period. During the New Year's Day holiday, Shenzhen will add 22 EMU trains to and from Hong Kong West Kowloon Station, and more than 200 EMU trains between Shenzhen and Hong Kong will run every day.
Leung's appeal was insightful
In order to better serve Hong Kong people to travel north, Leung Chun-ying, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and former chief executive, called on more ports to support 24-hour customs clearance. Leung Chun-ying posted on social platforms today (27th) that this reminded him of his experience as the convener of the Executive Council to assist the then Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa in promoting the 24-hour customs clearance of the Lok Ma Chau Control Point.
Hong Kong people clear customs to Shenzhen Source: Sing Tao Daily
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) recently released the Three-Year Action Plan for Building a World-Class Business Environment in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to deepen cooperation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, including the implementation of 24-hour customs clearance and the co-location model at more ports. At present, only the Huanggang Port (i.e. Lok Ma Chau Control Point) and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge are open overnight.
Leung Chun-ying said, "I consulted with the senior civil servant in charge of this matter, and she asked me what Hong Kong people would return to Hong Kong from the mainland in the second half of the night? I said that there were many answers, but I did not answer, I only asked one rhetorically, who would go from Hong Kong to Kowloon and from Kowloon to Hong Kong in the second half of the night? Why didn't we seal up the undersea tunnel in the second half of the night? Moreover, we wanted to make it convenient not only for Hong Kong people returning to Hong Kong, but also for everyone who went from Hong Kong to the mainland."
Leung Chun-ying said that the relationship between Hong Kong people and the mainland is the decisive factor, and the exchanges between Hong Kong and the mainland are first and foremost "connected". The lack of communication between Hong Kong and the mainland will not only hinder economic development, but also cause political problems due to the estrangement between the people.
For some people to question that more ports are open 24 hours a day, more spending power will be lost. Leung Chun-ying believes that it will be in the short term, but if we do not embrace competition, we will not face the need for upgrading and transformation, and we will not extend Hong Kong's business territory across the Shenzhen River. The experience of the 45 years of reform and opening up in the mainland has been extremely successful, and the experience lies in the fact that, on the one hand, it has faced the external competition brought about by opening up, and on the other hand, it has used external competition to force reform, including the reform of business formats and, more importantly, the reform of government policies and measures. To this day, this is still the basic attitude of the mainland.
Leung Chun-ying continued to say that Shenzhen is close at hand, get on the bus at the entrance of the Hong Kong Association in the core area of Central, and get to the port in 35 minutes, there is not a single traffic light along the way, but there are still too many politicians and opinion leaders in Hong Kong who go to Shenzhen too little, and their hearts are full of red lights and yellow lights, and the hard core of the "internal communication" issue is still a matter of mentality.
Straight News believes that Leung Chun-ying's appeal is very insightful, and as one of the first Hong Kong people to "cross the river" to the north, he has an intuitive understanding of the rise of Shenzhen. If we use a closed mind, we will not be able to understand the achievements of reform and opening up in Shenzhen, and the vast number of Hong Kong compatriots should get a glimpse of the new dividend period in which Hong Kong can better integrate into the overall development of the country in the general trend of the "northbound wave".
The flow of people and vehicles on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge has reached a record high
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Border Inspection Station revealed today (27th) that the Zhuhai Highway Port of the Bridge ushered in a double peak of inbound passenger flow and vehicle flow on the 26th, with the single-day passenger flow exceeding 115,000 for the first time, refreshing the record of 113,000 passengers set on February 7, 2019, and the single-day traffic flow exceeded 17,000 vehicles for the first time, refreshing the highest single-day record of all ports in the country since the beginning of this year. The two figures hit a record high since the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge more than five years ago.
Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge vehicular traffic Source: Point News
December 23-26 is a public holiday in Hong Kong and Macao, and the "northbound" consumption and tourism boom continues to be hot, and the Zhuhai Highway Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge has become one of the most popular channels for Hong Kong and Macao residents to enter and exit the mainland. According to the statistics of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Border Inspection Station, the number of inbound and outbound passengers inspected at the station exceeded 100,000 for four consecutive days, with a cumulative total of more than 420,000, a record high. Among them, the number of Hong Kong and Macao residents exceeded 316,000, accounting for more than 75%.
According to the statistics of the border inspection department, from December 23 to 26, the total number of vehicles entering and exiting through the Zhuhai port of the bridge exceeded 62,000, with a daily average of more than 15,000. Among them, Hong Kong and Macao single-brand vehicles have become the most important type of port traffic, with an average daily traffic volume of nearly 10,000 vehicles, more than 70% of the total number of passenger cars at the port.
"Judging from the breakdown data, the number of 'Hong Kong cars going north' has increased significantly. From the 23rd to the 26th, the average daily traffic volume of Hong Kong single-plate vehicles exceeded 5,300, which was higher than the number of single-plate vehicles in Macao on the same day for four consecutive days, which was the first time since the official implementation of the 'Hong Kong car northbound' on July 1. Lin Meihong, political commissar of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge border inspection station, introduced.
At present, Hong Kong's single-plate vehicles have become the main growth point of vehicles passing through the port. As of December 26, more than 250,000 single-plate vehicles have been inspected at the HZMB border inspection station. In order to cope with the peak of passenger and vehicular flows, the opening hours of the Zhuhai-Hong Kong Departure Hall of the HZMB have been extended to 10:30 p.m., and a cross-station support plan has been implemented, with mobile police forces being arranged to strengthen monitoring and inspection, and additional inspection channels have been opened and filled in advance to maximize the efficiency of customs clearance.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Hong Kong Garrison organized joint patrols
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Hong Kong Garrison today (27 July) adopted the method of pulling exercises, dispatching part of the naval, land and air forces to organize joint patrols, focusing on tempering the combat capabilities of the troops in rapid planning, emergency dispatch, special situation handling, and joint operations. Throughout the joint patrol, the garrison strictly abides by Hong Kong's laws and regulations on roads, waterways, and aviation control, and informs the relevant departments of the SAR Government in advance.
This joint patrol covers multiple arms such as high-mobility infantry, ships, and helicopters, and is carried out in a coherent manner according to the requirements of actual combat, and mainly exercises the establishment of command posts and planning and command, naval and air patrols, interception and verification, land and air patrols, battlefield ambulance, and other subjects, and exercises command, communication, and coordination in actual combat and confrontational exercises, effectively improving the troops' ability to plan, command, and conduct joint operations.
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Author丨Lin Shuqi, the chief writer of Shenzhen Satellite TV Direct News