Transport firms prepare for passenger surge over Tet

By VnExpress December 15, 2016 | 02:11 am PT

The travel rush around the Tet holiday is seen in Vietnam every year. Photo by Vietnam News Agency

The Lunar New Year is a rare opportunity for migrant workers to visit their families back home.

Transport authorities are bracing for their busiest season with the Lunar New Year travel rush just around the corner.

Bus and coach operators at Giap Bat Station, which is around 6 kilometers south of downtown Hanoi, said around 1,230 extra journeys per day have been laid on to accommodate increased passenger numbers. At My Dinh Station, about 10 kilometers west of the city center, an extra 1,600 journeys will be added to the daily schedule.

The number of passengers traveling by coach is expected to be 40 percent higher than usual, the Hanoi Transport Company estimated.

Growing demand for air and train travel is also forecast in the first half of February.

Phung Thi Ly Ha, an executive at Hanoi Railway Transport, predicted an increase of 40–50 percent in passenger numbers to between 800 and 1,000 on each journey.

Vietnam Airlines, the country’s biggest carrier, said in the lead up to the traditional holiday the number of daily flights will be 13 percent higher than usual and a massive 46 percent more than during last year's festival, with an extra 900 flights to accommodate more than 185,000 passengers.

The Lunar New Year is a rare opportunity for millions of migrant workers to return home and see their families.

The World Bank estimated that some 7.5 million people moved to cities from rural areas between 2000 and 2010, making Vietnam among the top five countries in East Asia in terms of rapid urbanization.

According to the UNFPA, around 13 million people, the equivalent of 14 percent of Vietnam’s population, have moved to the cities to work in export-manufacturing factories, construction and services.

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