Pandemic delays HCMC bus station shift

By Gia Minh August 13, 2020 | 09:04 pm PT

The terminal of the new Mien Dong Bus Station that stands in HCMC and Binh Duong Province, July 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa.

The inauguration of HCMC’s new Mien Dong (Eastern Region) Bus Station, scheduled for Saturday, has been delayed amid the resurgence of Covid-19.

Bus manufacturer Saigon Mechanical Engineering Corporation (Samco), which built it, reported to city authorities that the station has the required infrastructure to begin functioning but its opening has to be postponed because of the wave of infections.

A company spokesperson said it would only open when the government completely controls the new wave of the Covid-19.

The station spreads over 16 hectares (40 acres) in Ho Chi Minh City's District 9 and Di An Town in neighboring Binh Duong Province. It ferries passengers between the city and central and northern regions.

Samco had said on July 16 that the first phase of the new station was complete and would be partially opened in August. The old one in Binh Thanh District will remain operational until the new hub is complete.

Construction, which started in April 2017, cost VND4 trillion ($173 million).

Once fully complete, the new station will be three times the size of the existing one, which is already the biggest in Vietnam, and have the capacity to serve seven million passengers a year.