Hong Kong online booking system for cross-border trips crashes in first hour after launch under weight of traffic, but service soon restored
- Post test runs showed a string of blank pages or errors after 6pm launch, but system back in service about 7pm
- More than 250,000 slots booked in the first five hours of the system’s operation
An online system set up by the Hong Kong government for mainland China-bound travellers to reserve time slots after Covid-19 restrictions were eased crashed inside an hour of its launch on Thursday, but more than 250,000 people booked places in the first few hours after service was resumed.
Access was restored and all time slots for the four land crossings – with a couple of exceptions – remained open three hours after the system went live.
The government chief information officer revealed that 150,000 people secured bookings two hours after the online system started operation at 6pm on Thursday.
There were more than 250,000 people who had completed booking by 11pm and most were able to complete the process inside 15 minutes.
02:11
Up to 60,000 travellers allowed each way between Hong Kong and mainland China daily from January 8
The reservation platform, accessed through the government’s GovHK portal, started to accept bookings for 50,000 slots a day at 6pm.