Transport ministry requests traffic safety at Bắc Thăng Long-Nội Bài toll station

December 21, 2018 - 18:17

The Ministry of Transport has ordered the Directorate for Roads of Việt Nam and VIETRACIMEX 8 Company to ensure traffic safety and order at the Bắc Thăng Long-Nội Bài toll station amidst ongoing protests.

Bắc Thăng Long-Nội Bài toll station in Hà Nội collects fees for a BOT project in nearby Vĩnh Yên City, Vĩnh Phúc Province. — VNA/VNS Photo
Viet Nam News

HÀ NỘI The Ministry of Transport has ordered the Directorate for Roads of Việt Nam and VIETRACIMEX 8 Company to ensure traffic safety and order at the Bắc Thăng Long-Nội Bài toll station amidst ongoing protests.

Since Tuesday, drivers have protested the inappropriate location of the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) toll station. The situation has turned chaotic and the station had to be opened several times for traffic to flow through freely after drivers stopped their cars and did not pay or move.

The toll station collects fees to refund the investment capital of BOT project on the transition section of National Highway 2 in Vĩnh Yên, Vĩnh Phúc Province. However, the station is located on Võ Văn Kiệt Street in Hà Nội.

The BOT project’s investment capital will be refunded through fee collection over a period of more than 16 years.

The drivers asked for the station’s relocation to Vĩnh Yên because they are being asked to pay the toll even if they do not take the road it is meant to fund.

Hà Nội authorities have twice proposed the transport ministry stop collecting fees and relocate the station to the correct stretch of National Highway 2.

The Bắc Thăng Long-Nội Bài toll collection station was set up as per the ministry’s decision in 1997, and in 2009 it was transferred to VIETRACIMEX 8 for operation.

The fee is now set at VNĐ10,000 (US$0.40) per four-seat car. — VNS

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