With the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend (25–27 September) about to begin, Hong Kong’s Transport Department has warned of record passenger and vehicle flows at land boundary control points—including Lo Wu/Lok Ma Chau, Shenzhen Bay and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. In a notice summarised by local mobility platform BitAuto on 24 September, officials predict the heaviest return-to-Hong-Kong peak on the evening of 27 September. Public-transport operators are stepping up capacity. MTR will boost East Rail Line frequencies between Admiralty and the two Shenzhen border stations, while the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link is adding short-haul trains to Futian and Shenzhen North. Bus operators will tighten headways on the HZMB Gold Bus to around one minute during peaks, and increase quotas for cross-boundary coach services and franchised ‘B-route’ buses serving the ports. The advisory urges travellers to avoid peak hours, book coach tickets in advance and monitor live traffic via the HKeMobility app, the Easy Boundary one-stop portal, or the Zhuhai Port WeChat account. Drivers of ‘Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles’ private cars are told to expect ad-hoc traffic controls at Zhuhai Port, Lok Ma Chau and Shenzhen Bay. For corporates running holiday rosters or relocating staff over the long weekend, contingency planning is essential. HR teams should factor in potential delays when scheduling flights that require land transfers to Mainland airports, and remind employees to carry multiple payment options as queuing times at ticket kiosks may lengthen. The Transport Department’s 24-hour Emergency Transport Coordination Centre will coordinate real-time measures; businesses can call its hotline or follow its social channels for updates. The next comparable surge will occur in early October during National Day ‘Golden Week’, making the Mid-Autumn operation an important stress-test of post-pandemic cross-boundary capacity.
