A transport firm run by the daughter of Macau casino kingpin Stanley Ho Hung-sun looks set to be the biggest winner when the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge opens, after her company won the exclusive rights to run shuttle buses across the multibillion-dollar link, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) today.
Competition for transport business between the three cities is heating up ahead of the bridge’s opening later this year.
The subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Shun Tak Holdings has tentatively set the fare for its bridge shuttle service at a drastically cheaper rate than competitors operating ferries or coaches on other routes.
It says it will charge HK$80 between Hong Kong and Zhuhai.
Shun Tak already dominates the ferry market between Hong Kong and Macau with its TurboJET service, and is expected to gain the upper hand against rivals by securing the bridge bus contract.
The group’s executive chairman and managing director Pansy Ho Chiu-king, often referred to in southern China as the “gambling queen” owing to her father’s casino empire, disclosed the new service while announcing the group’s annual results this week.
“The company has participated in a consortium, via its subsidiary, which has succeeded in the tender,” she said quoted by the SCMP.
The joint venture comprises Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Land Transportation (Macau) Corporation, Zhuhai Yuegong Xinhai Transportation Company, and Hong Kong Zhuhai Macau Bridge Shuttle Bus Services.
Between 90 and 140 buses will run daily between the border checkpoints of the three cities.
They will depart every five minutes at peak hours and every 10 to 15 minutes in non-peak hours. A night service will see buses leaving every 15 to 30 minutes.
The HK$80 fare to Zhuhai is much lower than the HK$220 ferry and HK$130 coaches using other routes.
