LCQ18: Immigration-related transport infrastructure facilities

Following is a question by the Hon Claudia Mo and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan, in the Legislative Council today (November 11):

Question:

Regarding the immigration-related transport infrastructure facilities, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) at the time when it sought funding approval for the construction of various immigration control points and shipping control points (collectively referred to as control points), of the estimated average daily passenger throughputs and the relevant totals of the control points concerned in the first year, and every fifth year thereafter (until the 31st year), of their commissioning (set out in tables of the same format as Table 1);

Table 1
Name of control point and the year of commissioning:

Year after commissioning	Estimated average daily passenger throughput
Year after commissioning	Inbound	Outbound	Total
First year
Sixth year
…
31st year

(2) in the first year, and every fifth year thereafter (until the 31st year but not later than last year), of the commissioning of the various control points, of the average passenger throughputs of the relevant control points in the morning and afternoon of each day as well as the whole day and the relevant totals (set out in tables of the same format as Table 2);

Table 2
Name of control point:

Year after commissioning	Average daily passenger throughput
	Morning			Afternoon			Whole day
	Inbound	Outbound	Total	Inbound	Outbound	Total	Inbound	Outbound	Total
First year
Sixth year
…
31st year

(3) at the time when it sought funding approval for the construction of some control points (i.e. Man Kam To, Sha Tau Kok, Lok Ma Chau, Shenzhen Bay, and Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai) and the roads connecting the control points (i.e. Shenzhen Bay Bridge, Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) Hong Kong Link Road, Lung Shan Tunnel, and Heung Yuen Wai Highway), of the estimated average daily south-bound and north-bound traffic volumes and the relevant totals of the facilities concerned in the first year, and every fifth year thereafter (until the 31st year), of their commissioning (set out in tables of the same format as Table 3);

Table 3
Name of control point/road and the year of commissioning:

Year after commissioning	Estimated average daily traffic volume
Year after commissioning	South-bound	North-bound	Total
First year
Sixth year
…
31st year

(4) in the first year, and every fifth year thereafter (until the 31st year but not later than last year), of the commissioning of the control points and the roads mentioned in (3), of the average south-bound and north-bound traffic volumes in the morning and afternoon of each day as well as the whole day and the relevant totals (set out in tables of the same format as Table 4);

Table 4
Name of control point/road:

Year after commissioning	Average daily traffic volume
	Morning			Afternoon			Whole day
	South-bound	North-bound	Total	South-bound	North-bound	Total	South-bound	North-bound	Total
First year
Sixth year
…
31st year

(5) of the amount of money paid to the Mainland authorities by the Government in respect of the Shenzhen Bay Port in each year since its commissioning in 2007 (set out in Table 5); the head of expenditure from which the money have been drawn;

Table 5

Year	Land rental	Maintenance fee	Land development cost	Others
2007
…
January to October 2020

(6) given that the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC), wholly-owned by the Government, and the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) have set up a Patronage Cap-and-Collar Mechanism in respect of the operating arrangements for the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL), under which the MTRCL will bear all the risk or retain all the return if the deviation of the actual patronage from the projected patronage is within 15 per cent, and MTRCL and KCRC will share the risk or return according to the ratio of 30 per cent to 70 per cent if the deviation of the actual patronage from the projected patronage is beyond 15 per cent, of the relevant profits and losses in each year since the commissioning of XRL in 2018, and the relevant estimated amount for the current year; whether the Government needs to inject funds to KCRC to enable it to bear the risks concerned; if so, of the head of expenditure from which the amount is drawn; and

(7) of the Government's income and expenditure in respect of HZMB in each year since its commissioning in 2018; the respective estimates on the payback period of the HZMB Hong Kong Link Road made by the Government during the planning stage and at present?

Reply:

President,

Having consulted the Security Bureau/Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) and Immigration Department (ImmD), the Development Bureau/Planning Department, the Transport Department and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) Authority, my reply to the various parts of the Hon Claudia Mo's question is as follows.

(1) and (2) According to the information provided by ImmD, the average daily number of passenger trips using the following boundary control points (BCPs) in the past ten years is as follows:

Table 1
Average Daily Number of Passenger Trips (Note 1)
BCPs/ Year	Lo Wu		Lok Ma Chau Spur Line (Note 3)		Man Kam To (Note 4)		Sha Tau Kok
BCPs/ Year	Inbound	Outbound	Inbound	Outbound	Inbound	Outbound	Inbound	Outbound
2010	123,665	126,613	39,820	39,271	705	704	3,920	3,932
2011	125,796	128,531	47,344	46,289	227	248	4,300	4,213
2012	129,075	132,351	57,447	55,591	300	321	4,442	4,370
2013	123,596	128,735	65,437	62,424	1,894	1,323	4,759	4,541
2014	117,859	120,900	74,697	75,099	6,137	3,978	4,515	4,294
2015	115,327	112,638	81,889	87,807	6,270	4,678	4,424	4,156
2016	111,518	110,562	84,516	88,734	5,912	5,012	4,193	3,999
2017	111,197	112,661	80,994	81,922	6,187	5,431	4,309	4,147
2018	115,182	118,011	78,251	76,060	6,309	5,461	4,313	4,156
2019	105,470	108,871	69,343	68,072	5,291	4,642	3,731	3,616
2020 (Jan to Sep) (Note 2)	9,854	10,058	6,528	6,307	472	415	359	338

Table 1 (Con't)
Average Daily Number of Passenger Trips (Note 1)
BCPs Year	Lok Ma Chau		Shenzhen Bay (Note 3)		HZMB Hong Kong Port (Note 5)		Heung Yuen Wai (Note 6)
BCPs Year	Inbound	Outbound	Inbound	Outbound	Inbound	Outbound	Inbound	Outbound
2010	48,611	43,183	28,923	29,656	—	—	—	—
2011	45,566	40,385	33,887	34,760	—	—	—	—
2012	43,395	37,437	38,257	39,134	—	—	—	—
2013	42,258	35,643	43,839	45,065	—	—	—	—
2014	43,074	35,126	50,547	51,403	—	—	—	—
2015	42,548	35,441	51,350	51,903	—	—	—	—
2016	40,728	33,684	52,414	52,827	—	—	—	—
2017	43,038	35,572	55,450	55,857	—	—	—	—
2018	41,525	36,902	60,449	60,888	31,481	26,455	—	—
2019	35,730	32,220	52,690	52,861	24,270	28,944	—	—
2020 (Jan to Sep) (Note 2)	3,096	2,820	6,619	6,208	2,915	2,983	0	0

Table 1 (Con't)
Average Daily Number of Passenger Trips (Note 1)
BCPs/ Year	Airport		Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal		China Ferry Terminal		Tuen Mun Ferry Terminal (Note 7)
BCPs/ Year	Inbound	Outbound	Inbound	Outbound	Inbound	Outbound	Inbound	Outbound
2010	46,658	44,496	22,170	25,299	10,426	11,288	2	2
2011	49,753	47,492	22,794	26,209	10,968	12,106	398	580
2012	52,857	50,345	22,550	26,077	10,712	12,851	540	666
2013	57,273	54,920	22,387	26,089	11,379	13,828	–	–
2014	60,368	58,074	21,811	26,703	10,911	14,263	–	–
2015	64,586	62,317	21,335	26,414	10,510	12,794	–	–
2016	67,460	65,439	21,090	25,471	9,206	11,048	892	878
2017	70,873	68,665	20,549	26,894	9,051	10,332	948	960
2018	74,279	71,961	19,850	24,788	8,994	9,742	1,002	1,011
2019	68,063	66,178	13,972	13,912	4,999	5,303	714	712
2020 (Jan to Sep) (Note 2)	10,449	9,782	1,135	1,131	370	348	52	53

Table 1 (Con't)
Average Daily Number of Passenger Trips (Note 1)
BCPs/ Year	Kai Tak Cruise Terminal (Note 8)		West Kowloon Station of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link ( Note 9)		Harbour Control		Hung Hom
BCPs/ Year	Inbound	Outbound	Inbound	Outbound	Inbound	Outbound	Inbound	Outbound
2010	—	—	—	—	850	817	4,456	4,715
2011	—	—	—	—	1,012	982	5,286	5,410
2012	—	—	—	—	1,024	993	5,650	5,714
2013	583	594	—	—	891	871	6,070	6,129
2014	1,918	1,930	—	—	90	71	6,160	6,118
2015	2,269	2,294	—	—	96	66	5,753	5,797
2016	2,201	2,232	—	—	87	64	5,297	5,314
2017	2,315	2,294	—	—	83	67	5,294	5,270
2018	2,377	2,370	27,188	25,513	85	65	5,275	5,209
2019	2,187	2,158	23,144	22,698	83	58	2,696	2,755
2020 (Jan to Sep) (Note 2)	248	248	1,749	1,812	86	66	193	203

Note 1: Figures in this table refer to all passenger trips passing through the BCPs excluding drivers and passengers who were refused landing.

Note 2: In response to the development of the COVID-19 epidemic, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has suspended passenger clearance services at most of BCPs by phases since end-January 2020:

West Kowloon Station of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, Hung Hom, Man Kam To, Sha Tau Kok, China Ferry Terminal and Tuen Mun Ferry Terminal (with effect from January 30, 2020);
Lo Wu, Lok Ma Chau Spur Line, Lok Ma Chau and Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal (with effect from February 4, 2020); and
Kai Tak Cruise Terminal (with effect from the afternoon of February 5, 2020).

Note 3: According to the special arrangements by the HKSAR Government and Shenzhen Municipal Government, Secondary 3 to Secondary 5 cross-boundary students entered and exited Hong Kong via Shenzhen Bay Control Point or Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point during designated periods from Monday to Friday between June 15 and July 17, 2020 (except public holidays).

Note 4: Due to the reconstruction works at the passenger clearance area of the Shenzhen side of the Man Kam To Control Point, only cross-boundary goods vehicles, cross-boundary students and limited cross-boundary coaches were allowed to use the Man Kam To Control Point starting from February 22, 2010. Upon completion of the works, it resumed full operation on August 26, 2013.

Note 5: Officially commissioned on October 24, 2018.

Note 6: The Heung Yuen Wai BCP commenced operation on August 26, 2020, with only cargo clearance service available at this stage (i.e. no passenger clearance service for the time being).

Note 7: The operation of Tuen Mun Ferry Terminal Control Point was suspended from December 16, 2010 to April 14, 2011 and from July 1, 2012 to January 27, 2016.

Note 8: The first berth of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal was officially commissioned on June 12, 2013. The number of arrivals also included passengers of cruise liners berthing at other anchorages, as well as passengers on board Hong Kong-based passenger liners running regular daily high seas trips.

Note 9: Officially commissioned on September 23, 2018. In response to the COVID-19 epidemic, the services have been suspended since January 30, 2020.

ImmD does not maintain other breakdown statistics mentioned in the question.

(3) and (4) According to the information provided by C&ED and the HZMB Authority (applicable to HZMB Hong Kong Port), the average daily number of cross-boundary vehicular trips using the following road-based BCPs in the past ten years is as follows:

Table 2
Average Daily Number of Cross-boundary Vehicular Trips (Note 1)
Road-based BCPs/ Year	Man Kam To		Sha Tau Kok		Lok Ma Chau
Road-based BCPs/ Year	Inbound	Outbound	Inbound	Outbound	Inbound	Outbound
2010	2 383	2 230	1 050	1 212	14 249	13 199
2011	2 161	2 073	1 142	1 287	13 819	12 764
2012	2 092	2 086	1 177	1 314	13 498	12 378
2013	2 172	2 195	1 251	1 391	13 295	12 241
2014	2 380	2 382	1 025	1 165	12 776	11 976
2015	2 415	2 479	1 065	1 187	12 470	11 761
2016	2 408	2 452	1 037	1 200	12 119	11 607
2017	2 573	2 501	1 096	1 324	12 076	11 637
2018	2 297	2 272	1 067	1 246	11 283	11 006
2019	2 158	2 075	1 001	1 163	10 179	10 064
2020 (Jan to Oct) (Note 3)	1 669	1 435	373	547	4 646	4 776

Table 2(Con't)
Average Daily Number of Cross-boundary Vehicular Trips (Note 1)
Road-based BCPs/ Year	Shenzhen Bay		HZMB Hong Kong Port		Heung Yuen Wai (Note 2)
Road-based BCPs/ Year	Inbound	Outbound	Inbound	Outbound	Inbound	Outbound
2010	3 862	4 932	—	—	—	—
2011	4 271	5 258	—	—	—	—
2012	4 477	5 416	—	—	—	—
2013	4 581	5 461	—	—	—	—
2014	4 668	5 303	—	—	—	—
2015	4 823	5 316	—	—	—	—
2016	5 606	5 899	—	—	—	—
2017	6 216	6 496	—	—	—	—
2018	6 537	6 645	1 725	1 769	—	—
2019	6 332	6 341	2 069	2 098	—	—
2020 (Jan to Oct) (Note 3)	2 586	2 450	452	450	42	231

Note 1: The figures include cross-boundary goods vehicles, private cars, shuttle buses, and coaches.

Note 2: The Heung Yuen Wai BCP commenced operation on August 26, 2020, with only cargo clearance service available at this stage (i.e. no passenger clearance service for the time being).

Note 3: The figures for January to October 2020 are provisional only.

     C&ED does not maintain other breakdown statistics mentioned in the question.

     The design capacity and daily average vehicular flow in 2019 of Shenzhen Bay Bridge, Heung Yuen Wai Highway (part of which being Lung Shan Tunnel) and HZMB Hong Kong Link Road are as follows:

Table 3
	Shenzhen Bay Bridge		Heung Yuen Wai Highway (Note 3)		HZMB Hong Kong Link Road
Design Capacity (vehicle/ hour)	Southbound	Northbound	Southbound	Northbound	To Hong Kong	To Zhuhai/Macao
Design Capacity (vehicle/ hour)	4 700	4 700	3 000	3 000	4 700	4 700
Average Daily Number of Vehicular Trips in 2019	9 450 (Note 1 and 2)	9 680 (Note 1 and 2)	6 210 (Note 1)	7 330 (Note 1)	2 069 (Note 4)	2 098 (Note 4)

Note 1: Based on the traffic flow statistics of the Annual Traffic Census. The most updated statistics are as in 2019.

Note 2: Including non-cross-boundary vehicles using the road section, for example, franchised buses, green minibuses, taxis as well as vehicles of BCP and its staff.

Note 3: The Heung Yuen Wai Highway was commissioned on May 26, 2019, whereas the Heung Yuen Wai BCP was open for use of cross-boundary cargo clearance on August 26, 2020.

Note 4: The source of information is the HZMB Authority. The Transport Department does not maintain statistics of the vehicular flow of HZMB Hong Kong Link Road. The above figures were the average daily number of vehicular flow of HZMB in 2019, thus that of non-cross boundary vehicles was not included.

(5) According to the Security Bureau, before the commissioning of the Shenzhen Bay Port, the HKSAR Government paid a one-off land development cost to the Shenzhen Municipal Government. The cost was about RMB 1,537 million.

The land usage cost of the Hong Kong Port Area is tabulated below:

Table 4
Dates	Annual land usage cost (RMB) *
From July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2017	6,234,810
From July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2019	8,105,253
From July 1, 2019	1,000

* Denotes total land usage cost. Land usage cost is equally shared between ImmD and C&ED. The charging votes for ImmD and C&ED are Head 70 and Head 31 respectively.

(6) According to the "Patronage Cap-and-Collar Mechanism" under the "Supplemental Service Concession Agreement" for the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) signed between the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) and the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL), KCRC and MTRCL shall share the upside gain and downside risk if the deviation of the actual annual patronage from the projected level is beyond 15 per cent. Since the commissioning of the Hong Kong Section of XRL on September 23, 2018, the patronage of XRL has been increasing progressively, bringing in stable fare revenues to MTRCL. Even in the second half of 2019 where patronage was affected by the dominance of public order events in Hong Kong, the patronage has not touched the lower limit under the "Patronage Cap-and-Collar Mechanism", therefore neither the Government nor KCRC have made any payment to MTRCL in this regard since the commissioning of the Hong Kong section of XRL.

To prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic, the Hong Kong Section of XRL has suspended service since January 30, 2020. There is currently no scheduled date for service resumption. As the Hong Kong section of XRL has been suspended for more than nine months, the preliminary estimation is that KCRC will have to bear part of the risk according to the mechanism. KCRC and MTRCL will confirm in due course whether the actual patronage in 2020 has triggered the lower limit under the "Patronage Cap-and-Collar Mechanism" and discuss the related payment arrangements.

(7) The direct and indirect economic benefits of HZMB and its connecting roads have been assessed at the feasibility study stage of the relevant works. Direct economic benefits included savings in transport costs, value of time saved for travellers, induced traffic volume generated between the three territories, and value of time saved for goods on road. Since the commissioning of HZMB, there is a significant reduction in relevant travelling time between Hong Kong and the western Pearl River Delta (PRD) for people and goods. For example, the travelling time between Zhuhai and the Hong Kong International Airport has been reduced from four hours to 45 minutes; and the travelling time between Zhuhai and the Kwai Chung Container Terminal has been reduced from three and a half hours to 75 minutes, which bring direct economic benefits to Hong Kong. As regards the indirect economic benefits, the HZMB Hong Kong Port, situated at Lantau Island and adjacent to the Hong Kong International Airport, is the geographical converging point of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. Coupled with the development of the Greater Bay Area (GBA), we anticipate that HZMB will play an important function of fostering the smooth flow of people, capital, technology, and so forth within western PRD and GBA.

The HZMB Main Bridge is located within the Mainland waters and the HZMB Authority was established pursuant to the Mainland laws as a non-profit-making public institution legal person to be responsible for the construction, operation, management and maintenance (including financial matters) of the HZMB Main Bridge. The HZMB Authority is operated on a self-financed basis. According to the territoriality principle and the agreement of the governments of Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macao, the HZMB Authority collects tolls from vehicles using the HZMB Main Bridge (the Toll Plaza is situated in the Mainland) in accordance with the laws of the Mainland to repay the bank loan and meet the expenses of the daily operation and maintenance of the HZMB. The toll income is not received by the HKSAR Government. It is not appropriate for the HKSAR Government to disclose relevant financial information of HZMB unilaterally. The governments of Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macao will monitor the operation of HZMB and continue to work closely to explore refinement proposals and press ahead various new cross-boundary transport measures for better utilising HZMB, taking into account the capacity of the respective ports and connecting roads.