An atmosphere of hustle and bustle at Nước Ngầm Bus Station in Hà Nội on Saturday morning. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Thắng

HÀ NỘI — Bus stations across Hà Nội are bustling on Saturday morning as people carrying luggage hurried to leave the capital for their home provinces and cities, marking the start of the five-day National Day holiday from Saturday to Wednesday next week.

At Gia Lâm Bus Station, Nguyễn Hữu Anh, a student at Vietnam National University, Hanoi, who is from the northern city of Hải Phòng, said he had bought his ticket well in advance.

“This year’s holiday is longer, so the whole family has been looking forward to it. I decided to head home early to avoid the crowds later in the day,” he said.

Although the station is busy, everyone is in good spirits because we are all excited to return home, he added.

Similarly, at Nước Ngầm Bus Station, Trần Văn Hùng, a worker employed in Hà Nội, said he went straight to the station after finishing his shift to catch a bus home to the central province of Nghệ An. He was carrying a small bag of gifts for his parents and children.

It is only on occasions like this that they have a long enough break to return home, he said.

“Work is busy, so sometimes all I can do is call home to ask how everyone is. Whenever there is a holiday, all I want is to get on the bus as quickly as possible and return to my family.”

Passengers at Giáp Bát Bus Station in Hà Nội on Friday afternoon. — VNA/VNS Photo Lê Đông

Passenger number surged

Passenger numbers surged on services to the central region, the northern mountainous provinces and several neighbouring localities.

Nguyễn Hoàng Tùng, director of Giáp Bát Bus Station, said the station normally handles around 650 departures a day.

During the National Day peak, however, as many as 800 buses were scheduled to depart on the afternoons of Friday and Saturday, with passenger numbers expected to rise by around 200 per cent compared with normal days.

Routes to Thanh Hóa, the former Nam Định and Thái Bình provinces, and Ninh Bình were among those experiencing particularly strong demand.

Phạm Mạnh Hùng, director of Hà Nội Transport Station Joint Stock Company, said the 2026 National Day holiday was relatively long and coincided with the end of the summer holiday season, meaning demand for travel to hometowns, tourism, sightseeing and interprovincial journeys was expected to rise sharply.

Passenger numbers were forecast to surge on Friday and Saturday for journeys departing Hà Nội, before increasing again on next Wednesday and Thursday among passengers returning to the capital.

The increase in demand varies between routes, with the strongest pressure expected on routes serving tourist destinations, family visits and short- to medium-distance journeys.

The surge in travel was also evident on roads leading to and from the capital.

From Friday evening, passenger coaches and private cars began leaving Hà Nội in a steady stream towards national highways and expressways, marking the start of the holiday exodus.

Traffic volumes remained high, causing congestion particularly on Ring Road No. 3, Thăng Long, Nhật Tân and Vĩnh Tuy bridges, and on the southern gateway towards the Pháp Vân-Cầu Giẽ Expressway.

Traffic police were forced to regulate traffic from a distance and allow vehicles to use the emergency lane on Ring Road No. 3 to improve traffic flow.

Pasengers at Nước Ngầm Bus Station in Hà Nội on Saturday morning. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Thắng

Proactive measures

In anticipation of increased travel demand during the National Day holiday, bus station operators and transport companies have drawn up plans well in advance to ensure smooth services for passengers.

Hùng said has prepared a plan to deploy around 500 additional buses to ensure convenient and safe travel, ease congestion and prevent vehicle shortages.

Of these, 200 additional buses will be allocated to Giáp Bát Bus Station, 100 to Gia Lâm Bus Station and 200 to Mỹ Đình Bus Station.

The additional buses will be deployed according to priority and actual demand. Their activation will be based on real-time passenger numbers and the capacity of individual routes, with priority given to clearing all passengers by the end of each day.

Hùng said that every bus journey was backed by careful preparation across the entire transport system, involving vehicles, drivers, service staff, dispatchers, inspectors and traffic-management personnel.

“The common goal is to ensure passengers do not have to wait too long, that there are no vehicle shortages and, most importantly, that every passenger can return home or reach their destination safely,” he said.

Passengers at Mỹ Đình Bus Station in Hà Nội on Friday afternoon. — VNA/VNS Photo Lê Đông

Tùng, director of Giáp Bát Bus Station, said the station had stepped up coordination with the authorities to maintain public order and traffic safety, while ensuring buses stopped and picked up and dropped off passengers in accordance with regulations.

From the perspective of passenger transport operators, a representative of Năm Thu Bus Company, which operates on the Hà Nội-Hải Dương route, said holidays were always a period of sharply increased demand.

The company had therefore proactively prepared reserve vehicles and was ready to increase the number of services when passenger numbers rose, while asking drivers and service staff to demonstrate a heightened sense of responsibility to ensure passengers enjoyed safe and convenient journeys. — VNS