Trains from Sài Gòn to Phan Thiết city were suspended on March 20 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. — VNS Photo Ngoc Diệp

MEKONG DELTA — Many southern provinces and cities have temporarily suspended public transport amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lê Tiến Dũng, head of the Department of Transport of the Mekong Delta city of Cần Thơ, said bus routes that cover the provinces of Đồng Tháp, Vĩnh Long, Hậu Giang, Sóc Trăng, Hà Nội, Bình Thuận, and Quảng Ninh and Đà Nẵng City have been suspended from March 29 to April 15.

Half the bus routes in the city have also been suspended, and buses still plying drivers could only carry half their designed capacities and the number of passengers should not exceed 20, he said further.

All passengers need to wear masks, sit one to a seat in alternate seats and declare their health before boarding, he said.

The Tiền Giang Province Department of Transport had already suspended some bus routes since March 28.

Buses to District 8 in HCM City, Cổ Chiên Bridge in Bến Tre, Mỹ An commune in Đồng Tháp Province, Cao Lãnh City, and Long An Province will not ply.

Buses to other districts in HCM City have been reduced by at least 60 per cent, and within the province by 50 per cent.

Trains SNT1, SNT2, SE7, and SE8 from Sài Gòn to Nha Trang and Hà Nội were suspended on Monday (March 30).

SE22 and SE21 from Sài Gòn to Đà Nẵng and SPT2 and SPT1 from Sài Gòn to Phan Thiết City in Bình Thuận Province were halted earlier.

According to the Sài Gòn Railway Transport Joint Stock Company, the number of passengers has plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. —  VNS