Nation's largest bus station to open in new location next week

The station covers 16 hectares (40 acres) in the city's outlying District 9 and nearby Binh Duong Province's Di An Town.

During the first phase, it will serve 71 routes of more than 1,100 km (683 miles) each. Those routes are shifted from the old station in Binh Thanh District, which will remain operational until the new hub is entirely complete.

The station links passengers to southeast, central and northern regions.

Construction of the new station, commenced in April 2017, is expected to cost VND4 trillion ($173 million).

Once completed, the new station, funded by state-owned Saigon Transportation Mechanical Corporation, will be three times the size of the existing hub, which is already the biggest station in Vietnam, and have the capacity to serve seven million passengers a year.

It is expected the station would not just tackle current overload but also help reduce traffic congestion across inner-city areas during the Lunar New Year, and other holiday occasions, when travel demand for tourism and family visits peaks.

It is still unclear when the new station will be fully complete.