Just over a week until the Lunar New Year 2022, rail and bus stations in Da Nang have seen the biggest decrease in passenger usage, thereby forcing many road transport service providers to suspend their operations.

Very few passengers were seen at the waiting room at the bus station on the morning of January 17. Photo: THANH LAN

In previous years, people flocked to the airport, rail and coach stations to return to their hometowns to celebrate Tet with their families at the end of the lunar year. This year, the usually bustling venues became deserted amid pandemic. Railway station ticket office and waiting room have been quite empty. Its counters were seen with below 5 inquirers to buy train tickets for Tet holiday, in contrast to the crowded scene of previous years before COVID-19.

Train tickets were sold at a 10% discount in the first 10 days while college and university students receive an additional 20% saving off their ticket prices. In addition, customers who buy return tickets receive an additional 5% discount, buy off-peak bargains and get 40% off ticket prices. The sales of full-cabin and full-carriage tickets are being applied to passenger trains. Customers who buy these special tickets receive 10-15% discounts, along with free onboard meals. Also, at nationwide rail stations, they can enjoy separate waiting rooms/ areas for and access separate entrances when getting on and off the train.

Till date, a total of 1,094 train tickets for Tet holiday have been sold to passengers departing from Da Nang, accounting for about 20% of the train tickets planned for sale for Tet.

Demand for train tickets for the upcoming Tet Holiday is plunging due to fears of contagion amid the complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, an official of the Da Nang Railway Station said.

Therefore, the Da Nang railway station has been forced to temporarily close 2 out of its 3 ticket offices. It heavily relied on during the pandemic with only 5 to 10 train tickets for Tet being sold every day compared with 100-200 sold tickets a day in previous years.

The coach station is facing the same situation although public road transportation services have been allowed to resume operations for 3 months.  Its ticket office for the Da Nang - Can Tho route and the Da Nang - Hai Phong route on Monday recorded only 2 entries to buy bus tickets for Tet. Meanwhile, the coach station was seen with very few bus entries.

This year, the usually crowded coach routes connecting Da Nang with Nha Trang, Phu Yen, Quy Nhon, Can Tho, Gia Lai, Dak Lak or with such northern localities Hanoi , Vinh, Thanh Hoa, Hai Phong, and Vinh became empty due to the pandemic.

There are currently 80 licensed passenger transport service providers operating at the Da Nang coach station, and their vehicles are running on inter-provincial routes connecting between Da Nang and other Vietnamese localities. Since October 2021, the Da Nang government has allowed the resumption of inter-provincial coach routes but no entries and exists have been recorded on such routes. As a result, many bus service providers have been forced to suspend their operations or reduce their operation capacity.

Till date, some inter-provincial coach routes linking Da Nang with northern localities have yet to reopen due to the COVID-19 crisis. Currently, 10 out of 37 counters at the coach station are opening. This year, interprovincial passengers accounted only 10 to 20% of the figure recorded in previous years.

Reporting by THANH LAN- Translating by H.L