First river bus route in Ho Chi Minh City operates

Ho Chi Minh City’s first river bus route, from Bach Dang in District 1 to Linh Dong in Thu Duc district, offered officially services on November 25, after three months of technical and safety tests.

First river bus route in Ho Chi Minh City operates.

Earlier, on August 21, at the Bach Dang Wharf in District 1 in Ho Chi Minh City, ThuongNhat Company - Owner of Saigon river bus Project organised the launching ceremony for the Saigon river bus Line 1.

The new form of public transportation is expected to meet the increasing demand of local residents and help alleviate traffic congestion on the city’s streets.

The route will be serviced free of charge for 10 days to encourage people to choose the new public transport type.Then, the fare is VND15,000 (US$0.66) per one-way trip, and free tickets for the elderly over 70 and children with a height of under one meter with adults.

The 10.8 kilometer route has nine docks. The first wharf is Bach Dang; The last wharf is Linh Dong. Other wharfs include SaiGon Pearl in BinhThanh District, BinhAn Wharf, ThaoDien Wharf in District 2, Tam Vu, Thanh Da in BinhThanh District, BinhTrieu, HiepBinhChanh in Thu Duc District.

In addition, under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, line 1 of the Saigon river bus will add three terminals: Thu Thiem Wharf in District 2, Tan Cang Wharf in BinhThanh District and the wharf of Truong Tho in Thu Duc District. The route is operated by 5 boats - river bus - including 4 regular and 1 reserves.

Each Saigon river bus can carry 75 passengers, is equipped with air conditioning, life jackets and fire tools to ensure absolute safety for passengers. ThuongNhat Company provides technical security, calculations compatible with the weather conditions in South Vietnam.

The first river bus route takes only 30 minutes, including passenger pick-up time, to complete the 10.8 km route, two-thirds of the time relative to the bus on the same line.

(Source: NDO)