The new Huanggang Port handled over 5,000 passengers and nearly 1,000 vehicle trips during its first two hours of operation on Monday, officials said, describing it as orderly and smooth operation.

The redeveloped port, which opened at 6:30 am, provides 24-hour clearance services and adopts a “collaborative inspection and joint clearance” model so travelers only need to present their travel document once to clear the border, while drivers can complete five-party inspection without leaving their vehicles through joint one-stop lanes.

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Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung said that between 6:30am and 8:30am, the new port recorded 5,170 passenger trips, up more than 60 percent from the same period on ordinary days. There were also 953 inbound and outbound vehicle trips, about 30 percent more than usual.

He said all clearance channels were operating normally, with passengers able to cross without waiting, while vehicles using the joint one-stop lane waited less than five minutes.

Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said 1,200 public transport passengers had crossed northward through Huanggang Port while nearly 2,000 had headed south.

Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki said he had sought Chinese mainland travelers’ views on the port’s signage and instructions, and they said they found them very clear. He said he was confident that, after a few days of familiarization with the procedures, staff would be able to handle greater passenger flows during the Chung Yeung Festival this Sunday, and that if the arrangement proved effective, the authorities would consider extending the clearance model to other ports in future.

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Yolk Lam, a service ambassador stationed at L2 — the public transport interchange floor — is responsible for handling questions from passengers arriving at Huanggang from Shenzhen and advising them how to get home. In the hall, large public transport information boards list routes and service frequencies for different destinations — some cross-border travelers paused to photograph them.

The most frequent and complex inquiries, Lam said, concern direct transport to the airport at Chek Lap Kok, as some passengers may be slightly unsure about new bus services. The least clear information, however, concerns the former direct bus or seven-seater van from Huanggang Port to the airport.

Lam said the passenger flows of the first day have not been as heavy as expected, and that the travel flow during Chung Yeung Festival will be manageable thanks to experience accumulated during stress tests.

Dozens of travelers had already entered Hong Kong through the port just minutes after the revamped port opened.

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Among the first batch of arrivals from Shenzhen was a woman surnamed Wu, a United States passport holder living in Shenzhen, the first foreign traveler to use Huanggang Port. She cleared mainland and Hong Kong SAR clearance procedures at adjacent counters in just one minute, and was surprised by the streamlined, paperless process.

“For business and leisure needs, I frequently cross commute between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. So I truly live a cross-border life. That often means getting home very late, sometimes after midnight. Huanggang Port offers 24-hour clearance thus I have been looking forward to its opening for a very long time,” she said.

Working for a foreign finance company based in Shenzhen, Wu said the new port — by greatly enhancing border-clearance efficiency — will boost business and exchanges between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. She added that she would use Huanggang Port more often in the future, citing its 24-hour clearance and newer, cleaner and more convenient facilities, and said she hoped the authorities would renovate other border crossings.

Contact the writer at stacyshi@chiandailyhk.com