The new Mien Dong, or Eastern, Bus Station is finally scheduled for service.
Tuoi Tre reports that the facility is almost ready after repeated delays since construction began three years ago.
The Saigon Transportation Mechanical Corporation (SAMCO), the developer of the project, said in a document sent to the municipal People's Committee that the official opening will take place between April 19 and 26.
At first, the station will serve buses operating on long-haul routes to destinations more than 1,000 kilometers away from Saigon, or Quang Tri Province and further north.
Once the facility's second phase begins on an undetermined future date, all buses to destinations north of the city will depart from the station.
The US$176.4 million complex straddles the border of District 9 and Binh Duong Province, and will eventually handle seven million passengers per year. It is expected to relieve congestion around the current Eastern Bus Station, a notorious traffic jam hotspot in Binh Thanh District.
Work on the station, which neighbors the train depot for the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line, began in April 2017 and was expected to last eight months, but land clearance and red tape have held things up for years.
[Photo via Nguoi Lao Dong]
