Passengers buy tickets at the new Miền Đông (Eastern) Bus Station in HCM City’s Thủ Đức city. — Photo www.sggp.org.vn

HCM CITY — Fixed-route passenger buses of 15 provinces and cities began their official operations at the new Miền Đông (Eastern) Bus Station in HCM City’s Thủ Đức city on Tuesday.

According to a representative of the bus station, they include Thừa Thiên-Huế, Đà Nẵng, Quảng Nam, Quảng Ngãi, Bình Định, Phú Yên, Khánh Hòa, Ninh Thuận, Bình Thuận, Lâm Đồng, Đồng Nai, Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu, Bến Tre, Cần Thơ and Cà Mau.

Staff of transport businesses has posted their transport services’ information and installed computers and printers at ticket counters over the past few days at the new station.

The new bus station provides support services for transport businesses and passengers, including services to check and monitor vehicles operating under traffic safety processes, parking, overnight parking, loading and unloading consigned goods, free trolleys and prepared foods, among others.

In the upcoming time, it will supply other services such as washing, pharmacy and vehicle maintenance. 

At the old Miền Đông Bus Station in Bình Thạnh District, many transport businesses were notified to move and sell tickets at the counters of the new Eastern Bus Station several weeks ago.

Accordingly, passengers can now book tickets via phone and pay later at the ticket counters at the new station.

Some businesses have used their transit vehicles to take passengers to the new bus station.

In addition, passengers could take public buses on routes No. 55, 76, 93, 150, 60-1, 60-2, 60-3 and 60-4, which go through the new bus station.

The new Miền Đông Bus Station, the country’s largest bus station, was officially put into use in October 2020 after nearly four years of construction.

The new station is nearly three times as big as the old one in Bình Thạnh District.

It is located at 501 Hoàng Hữu Nam Street in Thủ Đức City, covering 12.3 ha in District 9 and 3.7ha in the city of Dĩ An in the southern province of Bình Dương.

It can serve about 21,000 passengers per day with 1,200 buses, and during peak times, 52,000 passengers and over 1,800 buses.

More than seven million passengers each year are expected to travel on 71 long-haul routes from the city to eastern provinces and localities in the central region and northern Việt Nam.

Construction of the new bus station cost more than VNĐ4 trillion (US$166.7 million).

It is a multi-functional complex with a commercial centre, entertainment area, restaurants and other service areas.

It has four floors and two underground basement floors, with waiting areas, pickup and drop-off areas, transit and cargo trade areas, logistics services, parking areas and a wastewater treatment station.

Advanced technology is used for station management and operations.

In the first phase of operation, buses on 24 long-haul routes will run from the new facility to the central province of Quảng Trị and northern provinces.

Buses will be allowed to pick up and drop off passengers at the old station for no more than three months from the opening date of the new station while all necessary procedures are being completed.

The new station is connected to inner-city public bus routes and inter-provincial bus routes between HCM City and Đồng Nai Province.

It will also be connected to the city’s Metro Line No. 1, which will extend from Bến Thành Terminal in District 1 to Suối Tiên Terminal in District 9.

It is expected to better serve passenger demand and contribute to HCM City's transport development.

It will serve as a transit hub for passengers going to Long Thành International Airport in Đồng Nai Province and as an international multimodal transport station to some countries in Southeast Asia.

HCM City has several main bus stations, including Miền Tây (Western) Bus Station in Bình Tân District, An Sương Bus Station in Hóc Môn District and Ngã Tư Ga Bus Station in District 12. — VNS