Trains and buses during Tet are deserted like never before

Although Tet is over, at bus stations, train stations and North-South bus pick-up points located onNational Highway 1Aand Vinh bypass still has very few passengers. Compared to previous years, this year the number of passengers has decreased significantly, this is expected because of the epidemic. This has caused many transport units to suffer great losses.

From the first to the fourth, at Vinh station, 404 people canceled their tickets. Photo: TD

InVinh Station, in 2020, the number of passengers traveling after Tet (from the first to the 15th of January) reached 41,479, an average of 2,000 passengers/day, this number has decreased significantly compared to previous years. However, at the beginning of this year, this number has decreased even more. In particular, the number of canceled trains and the number of returned tickets has increased significantly. Since the first day of the new year, many trains that were agreed to add more routes from Hanoi to Saigon have been canceled and adjusted.

Even on the Vinh - Hanoi route, the fixed train NA2 had many trips without passengers so it had to be canceled. From the 1st to the 4th, an average of 3 trains had to be canceled each day. Also during this period, at Vinh Station, 404 tickets were returned with a total amount of 285 million VND.

Due to the lack of passengers, the railway industry has had to cancel many North-South unified trains and short-distance fixed trains. Photo: TD

According to Mr. Cao Ngoc Tuan - Head of Vinh Railway Transport Station, it is impossible to describe all the difficulties that the transport industry has encountered in the first days of the new year. Although the railway industry has reduced ticket prices during this Tet holiday by 30%, the number of passengers is still very low, and there are still a lot of unsold tickets. Not only that, many customers also returned their tickets, causing the already low sales revenue to decrease even more.

Currently, the railway industry is applying 2 forms of ticket exchange and return for customers. That is, if customers want to return tickets and get their money back (after deducting the prescribed costs), they must wait 90 days. In addition, the railway industry also has a policy of reserving train tickets for passengers who need to travel in 2021. If they do not travel by train in 2021, they will be refunded by January 1, 2022.

On the 4th, at Bac Vinh bus station, there were very few passengers taking the bus. Photo: TD

For passenger transport by car, the number of passengers traveling by car has been very low these days, even on many bus routes, the number of passengers is even lower than usual.Bac Vinh bus station, currently there are 40 businesses registered to operate here. On the first day alone, no vehicles run, from the second to the fourth day, only about 60-70 vehicles depart. Compared to previous years, the number of vehicles departing in the days after Tet has decreased by more than 1/3. In particular, many businesses, if in previous years during Tet had to arrange extra vehicles, this year not only do they not have to arrange extra vehicles but also have to cut down and combine trips.

At the North-South bus stops, this year the number of people waiting for buses has decreased significantly compared to previous years. Photo: TD

A driver on the Vinh – Da Nang route said: Since the outbreak, the number of passengers has decreased significantly. According to calculations, each trip from Vinh to Da Nang must have 30 passengers for the company to break even, and if there are less than 30 passengers, it will incur a loss. During this Tet holiday, no bus has enough 30 passengers.

There were even many trips where the bus company had to cancel the Ha Tinh, Quang Binh - Da Nang route so that the bus could run from Vinh to pick up passengers to reduce costs.

Bus staff complete departure procedures at Bac Vinh bus station. Photo: TD

Currently, at Bac Vinh bus station, in addition to the routes from Hai Duong and Quang Ninh that must stop according to regulations, many routes from Vinh to the northern provinces also have a low number of passengers. This year's Tet holiday, only 11 transport businesses have requested permission to adjust ticket prices, including routes from Vinh to Hue, Da Nang, Hanoi, Thai Nguyen, Phu Tho, Son La... Ticket prices have been adjusted to increase by about 50,000 VND to 300,000 VND, depending on the route and type of vehicle. Of which, the highest increase is still the route to Ho Chi Minh City and uses high-class Limousine vehicles.

On the 4th day of Tet, the waiting room at Bac Vinh bus station was deserted, with only 3 passengers waiting to get on the bus. Photo: TD

Mr. Vu Hoang Huynh - Head of Bac Vinh bus station said: The unpredictable developments of the epidemic at the end of the year have really disrupted the passenger transport plans of businesses. Currently, businesses are also monitoring the epidemic situation, if the epidemic spreads and universities in the Northern region give students more time off, the number of passengers from now until the 15th of January will certainly continue to decrease./.