A coach transporting labourers between HCM City and another nearby province. Starting from October 13, coaches can resume transporting passengers between HCM City and other provinces. — Photo baotintuc.vn

HCM CITY — Coaches transporting travellers between HCM City and other provinces can resume operation from October 13, with passengers required to follow pandemic prevention measures and make online health declarations.

The HCM City Department of Transport has notified other provinces’ departments of transport about the city’s pilot plan to allow transport services into and out of HCM City.

The pilot plan is slated to be carried out until the end of October 20.

Each transport service can allocate no more than 30 per cent of their intended number of trips. Each coach must also ensure adequate social distancing between passengers.

Locals travelling from HCM City to other provinces must have received two vaccination shots (with the last shot given at least 14 days prior to their trip) and be certified with green cards on their COVID-19 smartphone applications or a paper certification, or have recovered from the disease within the last six months. They must also furnish COVID-19 negative test results valid within the last 72 hours before boarding.

Passengers who cannot fulfill the vaccination requirements will need to show the negative test result and must not have symptoms such as fever or coughing.

Travellers entering HCM City only need to show negative COVID-19 test results within the last 72 hours.

The North-South railway route will resume operation starting from October 13, with a train departing from HCM City on October 13 and a train from Hà Nội leaving from October 15. Customers will be dropped off across 23 provinces along the route.

On October 10, Deputy Prime Minister Lê Văn Thành instructed the Ministry of Transport to work with localities to issue regulations and instructions on resuming passenger transport activities in the country on railway and roads, while adhering to pandemic control and prevention requirements.

HCM City is working on finalising travel plans and regulations for locals who need to travel between the city and the three nearby provinces of Bình Dương, Long An and Tây Ninh. — VNS