Vietnam’s largest bus terminal suffers slump

On the afternoon of June 16, a 37-passenger sleeper bus driven by Van Vi left the new Mien Dong (southeastern region) Bus Station in HCMC’s Thu Duc City for northern Hai Duong Province.

There were only five passengers on board and all of them had been picked up by the bus operator at the old station that lies over 15 kilometers away in Binh Thanh District.

Besides those passengers, the waiting area in the new bus station, equipped with new and clean benches, was completely empty.

Its parking lot of thousands of square meters was occupied by only 10 motorbikes, most of which belong to station staff.

The lobby of the new Mien Dong Bus Station in HCMC’s Thu Duc is completely empty on June 16, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Gia Minh

“The new station is far from the inner city and because of that, no passengers come all the way here to buy tickets but gather at the old station,” said driver Vi.

As regulated by the operator, the sleeper coach he drives on the north-south route must depart from the new station.

Another bus operator on the north-south route between Hanoi and HCMC said that since it was put into use two years ago, the new Mien Dong Bus Station has remained desolate, even during the peak periods like the Lunar New Year holiday in late January or the Reunification Day weekend holiday in late April.

With a total investment of more than VND4 trillion (over $174 million), the new Mien Dong bus terminal is the largest bus station in the country, covering an area of 16 hectares in Thu Duc City near Binh Duong Province. Vehicles here transport passengers between HCMC and central and northern localities.

Put into service in October 2020, it can serve more than seven million passengers a year, equal to 21,000 passengers or 1,200 departures per day.

A station representative said the main reason for the lack of passengers is its remote location.

Therefore, many operators have continued selling tickets at the old station and pick up passengers there before transferring them to the new one.

The representative also blames a lack of traffic connection to the new station for its low number of customers.

Buses in the parking lot of the new Mien Dong Bus Station on June 16, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Gia Minh

Phan Cong Bang, deputy director of HCMC’s Department of Transport, said when the new Mien Dong Station came into life, the plan was to have it connect with Metro Line No. 1, which will run from downtown District 1 to Thu Duc City.

However, until now, the metro line has yet to be up and running.

“After the metro starts operation, the city will provide solutions to limit the number of vehicles going in and out of the old Mien Dong Bus Station and step by step increase the volume of passengers at the new station,” he said.

The city’s latest plan is for the metro to start its trial run in August so that it could start operating in late 2023.

Among those solutions are plans to build an overpass and a tunnel in front of the new station as well as to expand the nearby Hanoi Highway and National Highway 1A to boost connectivity.