The Transport Department today announced that the free-flow tolling service, HKeToll, will be implemented in the Tsing Sha Control Area on February 26 to replace all manual toll booths and Autotoll lanes.

The control area comprises Eagle Nest Tunnel, Sha Tin Heights Tunnel and Tai Wai Tunnel. Motorists can pay tunnel tolls with toll tags without having to stop or queue at toll booths for payments, the department added.

After the implementation of the free-flow tolling service in these tunnels, motorists can only use the HKeToll to pay the tunnel toll. The toll service provider has so far issued vehicle tags to more than 340,000 registered vehicle owners who have submitted applications.

Registered vehicle owners who have not applied for a vehicle tag should file an application as soon as possible. The toll service provider will take about five working days to process an application.

Those who have received the vehicle tag should install the vehicle tag, register the HKeToll account, associate the vehicle to the account and set up the auto-payment means to enjoy the convenience brought by the HKeToll.

Visit the HKeToll website or the mobile app for details and call 3853 7333 for further enquiries.

If registered vehicle owners fail to use the HKeToll to pay the toll, the automatic number plate recognition technology of the free-flow tolling service can detect the vehicle passing the tolled tunnel.

The toll service provider will then send an electronic payment notice to the vehicle owners, advising them on the options available for making the payment. Late payments will incur a surcharge.

Temporary traffic arrangements will be implemented in phases in areas near the Tsing Sha Control Area from 11pm on February 25.

Both directions of Eagle Nest Tunnel, Sha Tin Heights Tunnel and Tai Wai Tunnel and their connecting roads will be closed from 2am to 5am on February 26 to facilitate the works needed to close the toll booth facilities and amend traffic signs and road markings for the implementation of the HKeToll.

Motorists may use alternative routes such as Tai Po Road and Lion Road Tunnel to travel between Kowloon and Sha Tin.

The Transport Department plans to extend the HKeToll to Shing Mun Tunnel and Lion Rock Tunnel in the first quarter of 2023 and to all government-tolled tunnels within the year.