Construction of the Hengqin line on the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system has now been fully completed, according to a statement from the Public Works Bureau cited in Macau Post Daily.
Management of the 2.2-kilometre-long line has now been transferred by the bureau to the LRT for testing, the report said, with a full opening scheduled before the end of this year.
The line connects the LRT system with the Hengqin checkpoint, facilitating travel between the SAR and the Chinese mainland. Its operation is expected to be a boon for the estimated 16,000 people from Macao currently living in Hengqin – a suburb of the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai.
[See more: The LRT’s Union Hospital station opens this weekend]
Completion of the line comes as average daily passenger numbers on the LRT fell from 15,900 in August to 13,500 in September.
Usage rates in 2024 have improved on the dismal figures of the previous year – when numbers only broke the 10,000 mark in December, after the opening of Barra station sparked a short-lived surge in passenger interest.
However, after reaching a high of 16,700 in February, the average number of passengers using the system each day has been trending downwards again.
