Hanoi expansion drives coach stations to outskirts of city

Inner-city stations will be relocated and new facilities will be built along Ring Road 4 which directly links Hanoi with the nearby provinces of Hung Yen and Bac Ninh, said the city’s transport authorities.

Hanoi’s rapid population expansion and fast economic growth have brought with them the need to develop infrastructure, especially in the transport network.

Under the plan, the city will authorize the construction of new coach stations and parking lots, and also open service areas where drivers can take a toilet break, fill up their tanks and get something to eat.

In the future, Hanoi will have 22 major coach stations, according to the city’s transport plan towards 2030 with a vision to 2050.

Overcrowding at an inner-city coach station in Hanoi. Photo from the website of the city's Transport Department.

Hanoi’s Transport Department is considering closing Luong Yen Coach Station next month, which is just 3 kilometers southeast of the city center.

The station, which opened 12 years ago, is one the biggest coach stations in Hanoi and handles more than 300 coach trips a day.

Luong Yen, which provides transport services from Hanoi to 20 provinces, is notorious for its poor services and is no longer able to handle the increasing number of passengers. Overcrowding at the station is blamed for traffic chaos on nearby inner-city streets.

Hanoi’s Transport Department is looking at two options to compensate for the closure. The first is to redirect all coaches operating at Luong Yen to other stations such as My Dinh and Yen Nghia.

The second would be to divert all of them to Co Bi Station, which is currently under construction in Gia Lam District.