Construction of the new Miền Đông Bus Station in HCM City began yesterday. — Photo zing.vn

HCM CITY— Construction of the new Miền Đông Bus Station in HCM City began yesterday.

The Saigon Transportation Mechanical Corporation (SAMCO) said that the new station will be nearly three times as big as the current one.

Of the 16 hectares that the complex covers, 12.3ha will be in the city’s Long Bình Ward, District 9, and the remaining will be in Dĩ An District, Bình Dương Province.

As planned, the bus station will serve about 21,000 passengers per day, with 1,200 buses departing. On peak days, this will increase to 52,000 passengers and over 1,800 buses.

The new bus station would include convenient services including high-rise parking, repair areas, refueling stations, transit and cargo trade, and commercial and service areas.

The station was designed under the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) model, popular around the world.

Lê Văn Khoa, Vice Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, said he expected the new bus station to become a key hub in the city’s transportation system.

It would provide convenient access to public transport systems and help ensure a healthy environment for leisure activities, he said.

In addition to inter-provincial buses, the new station would operate new routes to serve transit passengers wanting to reach the city centre. Routes to satellite towns, like the Bến Thành-Suối Tiên route, rapid bus transit to Bình Dương Province and a network of taxi cabs from HCM City to surrounding satellite towns will also serve the public.

The first phase of the new station is set to be completed by the end of this year. – VNS