Hà Nội advised not to move all coach stations to suburbs

Gia Lâm Coach Station in Long Biên District, Hà Nội. — VNA/VnExpress News Photo Thành Đạt

HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội is advised to keep some coach stations in the inner city to create favourable conditions for people to travel, instead of a recently approved plan to move them to suburbs.

The suggestion came after the chairman of the People’s Committee of the city, Chu Ngọc Anh, signed Decision No. 1218/QĐ-UBND, approving the planning of coach stations, parking lots, logistics centres and rest stops in the city until 2030, a vision towards 2050.

Under the decision, the current coach stations of Gia Lâm, Mỹ Đình, Giáp Bát and Nước Ngầm are temporarily kept for exploitation in the short term. However, in the long term, they will be replaced by coach stations of Đông Anh, Cổ Bi, Nội Bài and Phùng in the suburb as scheduled.

Khương Kim Tạo, former deputy chief of the National Traffic Safety Committee’s Office, was quoted by Lao động (Labour) online newspaper saying that some coach stations should be kept in the inner city. This will better serve people living in the city as they will not have to use personal vehicles or taxis to reach the coach stations. 

Otherwise, the number of vehicles in the inner city will increase, exactly what the plan is trying to avoid, he said.

Therefore, Hà Nội needs to set up a suitable connection between fixed coach routes with the inner districts to create favourable conditions for people to travel, he said.

The city is suggested to continue keeping the operation of coach stations such as Mỹ Đình and Nước Ngầm. The current coach stations have to be upgraded to better serve the travelling demand of the city dwellers, he said.

“Before considering the construction of new coach stations, the city has to upgrade the existing ones,” he added.

Nguyễn Văn Thanh, former chairman of the Việt Nam Automobile Transportation Association, said that the planning is believed to cause waste and make it difficult for people to travel.

If the four coach stations of Gia Lâm, Mỹ Đình, Giáp Bát and Nước Ngầm are moved to the suburbs, passengers have to use thousands of vehicles daily to reach the coach stations, he said.

It will increase the traffic density in the urban areas, causing traffic jams and even traffic accidents, he said.

The current coach stations receive 120,000 passengers daily each. If the city moves the current coach stations to new places in the suburbs, about 7-12km away from current places, the cost for people to travel to the new places will be huge, he said.

“It’s a waste,” he said.

Nguyễn Xuân Thủy, a traffic expert, said that the plan to bring all coach stations out of the inner city is contrary to the global trend, causing inconvenience to people.

Thủy said experiences in many countries around the world show that in addition to building coach stations in the suburbs of a city, it is necessary to have coach stations in the inner city.

Therefore, the current coach stations should be maintained, he said.

Thủy said a coach can carry 50 passengers from the nearby provinces to the inner city of Hà Nội. If the coach stops at the coach station in the suburb, passengers have to travel by 50 motorbikes or 50 taxis to go to the inner city, which will cause more traffic jams than a coach.

“Moreover, it needs to prevent the intention of taking advantage of the relocation to construct high-rise buildings,” he said.

There was some land fund for developing urban transport which was used to build apartments, hotels and restaurants, he said.

For example, after Lương Yên Coach Station based in Hai Bà Trưng District was closed in 2016, the land fund of the coach station was used to build high-rise buildings, worsening traffic congestion in the area, he said. — VnExpress News