I reply to Raymond Chan's letter ('Long wait for tardy buses', South China Morning Post, February 3) regarding the bus service of Route No 49X.
According to the operation record of the route for January and early February this year, the service level was largely satisfactory. Buses were able to adhere to the scheduled frequency of eight to nine minutes during peak hours, except for a few occasions on which service was slightly affected by traffic congestion at Shing Mun Tunnel.
We are very concerned about Mr Chan's comments on the prolonged waiting time on Route No 49X at Shing Mun bus stop as sometimes the buses were full.
In order to take a close look at the case, we conducted a survey on February 9 at Shing Mun Tunnel bus stop. A total of 11 Route No 49X buses used the bus stop between 7.39am and 8.56am. A large number of passengers alighted from the buses there for interchange to other destinations, and so there were spare seats for waiting passengers on board these Sha Tin-bound buses.
There was only one incidence where not all intending passengers could get on the first bus, but those left behind were all able to board the next bus which arrived two minutes later.
Nevertheless, our outdoor staff will continue to keep a close eye on the bus service at Shing Mun Tunnel Interchange and will make immediate arrangements whenever demand warrants.