HCM City plans to link more bus routes to the new Eastern bus station. Photo: sggp.org.vn

HCM CITY— The HCM City Management and Operation Centre for Public Transport (MOCPT) said that the existing bus system in the city is able to basically satisfy the travel needs of people to and from the new Eastern Station in Thủ Đức City.

According to the centre, people can approach this new station through existing bus routes such as Route No.55 from Quang Trung Software City (District 12) – Saigon Hi-tech Park ( District 9) – the new Eastern bus station; Route No.56 from Chợ Lớn bus station (District 5) – HCM City University of Transport in Thủ Đức City – the new Eastern bus station; Route No.76 from Long Phước – Suối Tiên Recreational Park – the new Eastern bus station; and Route No.93 from Bến Thành Market to the new Eastern bus station.

Other bus routes passing this new station on the way from HCM City to Đồng Nai Province include Route No.150 from Chợ Lớn bus station – Tân Vạn T-junction; Route No.60-2 from Nông Lâm University – Phú Túc bus station (Biên Hoà City); and Route No.60-4 from the old Eastern Station – Sông Mây Industrial Park (Đồng Nai Province).

In addition, the city is planning to launch three new bus routes with final destinations at the new station. 

The first two are electric bus routes from Vinhomes Grand Park and from Vietnam National University. 

The last is a direct link from the old to the new Eastern bus station running on Hanoi Highway.

Earlier this month, fixed-route passenger buses from 15 provinces and cities began their official operations at the new station.

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.

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

The new bus station, the country’s largest bus station, was officially put into operation 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. VNS