About 6.78 million people are expected to cross the land boundary checkpoints during Christmas and the New Year, up 13.1% on last year.

The Immigration Department said the peak period for cross-boundary traffic will be December 19 to January 4.

It estimates about 4.92 million passengers (daily average of 289,000) will cross the boundary via the Lo Wu checkpoint.

This is 73% of the total cross-boundary passenger traffic and an increase of 2.6% over last year.

During the holiday period, the number of departing passengers at Lo Wu may reach a peak of 220,000 on Christmas Eve.

The peak of arrivals will be on December 28, with 190,000. The highest daily traffic is expected to reach 345,000 on Christmas Eve.

To cope with demand, another 157 Immigration officers will be deployed. The department and Shenzhen authorities will also strengthen co-operation and liaison to ensure smooth and orderly movement across the boundary. If need be, the Contra-Flow Scheme will be implemented at Lo Wu to relieve congestion.

The department has joined the Police, the Customs & Excise and Transport Departments, the KCRC and Shenzhen authorities to form a Joint Command Centre at Lo Wu.

The party has drawn up contingency measures to handle untoward incidents and will oversee traffic conditions during the festive period.

Those holding non-machine-readable multiple Re-entry Permits issued before December 17, 2001, are advised to apply early for an add-on machine-readable label free of charge, so they can pass through immigration quicker.

Application forms are available at the Information & Liaison Section at Immigration Headquarters, six Immigration Branch Offices, District Offices and major Post Offices or can be downloaded from the department's website.