MUCH-ANTICIPATED scenes of chaos as Hong Kong residents flocked across the border to start their two-day SAR anniversary holiday failed to materialise yesterday. A total of 201,998 crossed the border - 173,714 at Lowu and 28,284 at Lok Ma Chau. During peak hour at Lowu - 8.30am to 9.30am - 16,568 passed the checkpoint. As a result, the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) had to introduce travel quotas lasting four hours until 12.30pm for Lowu station. But in contrast with the long queues at all control points and KCR stations at the start of the Easter holiday in late April, things went smoothly yesterday. 'The number of people crossing the border fell back to around 10,000 per hour by the afternoon,' a spokesman for the Lowu Immigration office said yesterday. As a result it was decided there was no need to extend the opening time at the checkpoint beyond 11.30pm. Peak time at Lok Ma Chau was between 9am and 10am when 6,043 crossed the border. The overall flow was said to be satisfactory and the checkpoint closed at 10pm.
