The Ministry of Transport has asked Hà Nội to reconsider its plan to build new interstate coach terminals for short term use, including the controversial Yên Sở station, to avoid wastefulness.— Photo moitruongvadothi.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Transport has asked Hà Nội to reconsider its plan to build new interstate coach terminals for short term use, including the controversial Yên Sở station, to avoid wastefulness.

In a response to the Hà Nội People’s Committee regarding the capital city’s master plan on coach terminals and car parks, the transport ministry warned that such short-term terminals would be a “waste of investment” and might “affect the city’s urban land reserves.”

Hà Nội was planning to build the Yên Sở coach station in Hoàng Mai District, with total investment estimated at about VNĐ100 billion (US$4.4 million). It promises to be the most modern coach terminal ever built in Việt Nam, with most services automated, facilitating up to 1,000 coaches a day.

City authorities said that the station would take over inter-provincial coaches from the Giáp Bát terminal that is due to be demolished in 2020. After a new Southern Terminal is open – in 2025 at the latest, Yên Sở station will fulfill its initial purpose and then serve as a bus transit station and car park.

This means that Yên Sở station will only operate as an inter-provincial coach terminal for a period of less than 10 years.

The transport ministry also said that Hà Nội should not relocate all inter-provincial terminals to suburban areas along Belt Road No 4 as it would be too far for residents.        

The Ministry of Construction, meanwhile, wanted Hà Nội to develop a plan to connect public transport to the planned terminals so that passengers could reach them more easily.

The municipal People’s Committee in early October asked for opinions from the ministries of transport and construction over its coach terminal and car park master plan before sending the final blueprint to the city’s People’s Council for approval.

Hà Nội planned to have seven inter-provincial terminals around the city’s suburban areas, namely Đông Anh, Cổ Bi and Yên Nghĩa together with a Northern Terminal near Nội Bài Airport, a Southern in Thường Tín District, a Western in Quốc Oai District and a North-Western one in Phùng Township, Đan Phượng District. — VNS

Car park expansion

Hà Nội was expected to mobilise more than VNĐ29.8 trillion (US$1.3 billion) to build some two hundred car parks in the city by 2025 to meet growing demand.

In its master plan on coach terminals and car parks by 2030, the capital reported that it had just 590 parking zones and car parks stretching a total of 37.88ha across 12 districts.

The number of vehicles in the capital, meanwhile, has already reached about 5.8 million, with as many as 5.25 million motorbikes, 327,000 cars and other vehicles like buses and trucks.

Hà Nội’s parking areas serve just 10 per cent of demand, according to city authorities.

Aiming to raise the percentage to 60 per cent by 2030, the city was planning to expand the parking network to nearly 1,200ha with 1,480 car parks in downtown areas. Of which, there will be 74 underground car parks in the four most central districts of Hoàn Kiếm, Hai Bà Trưng, Đống Đa and Ba Đình.

Hà Nội authorities said that it would spend VNĐ29.8 trillion, both mobilised from the city budget and the private sector, to build 204 downtown car parks by 2025. In the next phase, from 2025 to 2030, another VNĐ242.3 trillion will be spent on the rest, the planned parking network as well as other parking facilities and coach stations. — VNS