About 20,000 civil servants from more than 70 bureaus and departments of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, along with hundreds of public transportation vehicles, took part in the largest ever stress test at the new Huanggang Port on Saturday to assess its peak-hour capabilities.

The exercise – the largest of its kind carried out since the rebuilt checkpoint’s Hong Kong Port Area went into operation late last month – demonstrated the facility’s smooth and effective management under the Hong Kong and Shenzhen authorities, said Chris Tang Ping-keung, secretary for security of the HKSAR.

However, he said several specific areas still can be improved on, such as higher Wi-Fi capacity.

During the pressure test, relevant departments conducted drills covering key aspects of cross-boundary passenger and vehicle clearance, including pick-up and drop-off operations at public transportation hubs, inspection procedures for cross-boundary vehicles, the functioning of joint one-stop channels, passenger clearance workflows, and a fire emergency response exercise.

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One test simulated 15,000 participants divided into five batches of 3,000 people each arriving from the Shenzhen side. Each batch arrived at five-minute intervals, corresponding to the train arrival schedules at Huanggang Port Station on Shenzhen Metro Line 7.

The primary objective was to further assess the operational performance of both the local and cross-boundary public transportation facilities and services at the Hong Kong Port Area in high-traffic conditions.

Tang said this full-process pressure exercise, with twice the number of participants compared to the previous drill, had gone off smoothly, noting that the maximum waiting time for boundary clearance did not exceed 15 minutes.

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The drill also marked the first test of the joint one-stop vehicle lanes for vehicle clearance. “The drill has achieved the desired results”, Tang said, with about 300 cross-boundary private cars deployed to test the effectiveness of the joint one-stop vehicle clearance lanes, and each vehicle completing the process in about one minute.

He thanked the Shenzhen authorities for their cooperation, adding that an internal review would be conducted, to be followed by meetings with Shenzhen officials to determine the port’s opening date.

The security chief said in situations with a large number of travelers gathering in the port building at the same time, the public Wi‑Fi connection may be relatively slow, and improvements need to be made to address the problem.

The Hong Kong and Shenzhen authorities had previously organized several stress drills and dedicated tests at the redeveloped port which will continue to operate around the clock.

More than 10,000 Hong Kong civil servants from relevant departments had participated in the first stress test of commuter and vehicle flows with Shenzhen government units at the new port a week ago.

The SAR and Chinese mainland authorities have also announced that Hong Kong residents holding mainland visit permits for Hong Kong and Macao residents, including permits for non-Chinese, as well as Hong Kong identity cards, may choose to use either document when using the new collaborative inspection automated channels at Huanggang, regardless of whether they’re heading north or south, for immigration clearance.

Hong Kong’s Transport Department said it has added dedicated public transportation lanes leading directly from Fanling Highway and San Tin Highway to ensure smoother and more efficient public transportation services once the new port opens.

These dedicated lanes allow franchised buses, cross-boundary coaches and green minibuses to proceed to San Sham Road and Huanggang Port without having to pass through the busier San Tin  Interchange, thereby bypassing regular traffic flow.

Contact the writer at atlasshao@chinadailyhk.com