Thousands of people yesterday began crowding bus stations and airport to make their way home for family reunions to celebrate the Lunar New Year .
There were serious traffic gridlocks in most major streets leading to railway and bus stations in the city.
Streets around the Mien Dong (Eastern) Bus Station in Binh Thanh District like Dinh Bo Linh, Xo Viet Nghe Tinh and the national highway No.13 were crowded.
At 6AM vehicles had to move inch by inch in Binh Loi Bridge connnecting Dinh Bo Linh street with the bus station because of traffic congestion. The 2 km long street was filled with lines of vehicles. Thousands of people leaving for home flocked to the bus station and a large number of passenger buses and trucks carrying commodities from the opposite direction made the traffic worse.
All traffic police officers were mobilized to control traffic yet the condition had not alleviated yet until 8 PM.
Thousands of passengers arrived in Tan Son Nhat Airport since 4 AM for fear of traffic jam. The airport was crowded with lines of people who were waiting for their turns. Airliners had to mobilize all staffs to do paperwork in order to reduce check- in time for passengers. Averagely, a person had to wait 45 minutes for their turns.
In the peak season, the airport have 1,065 additional flights, an increase of 7.7 percent compared to normal days or a surge of 38 flight a day.
On the same day, thousands of people were queuing in Sai Gon train station to leave for their homeland. 20 trains carrying 16,000 passengers left the city to all corners of the country.
Early in the morning, traffic police officers and security guards of the station works relentlessly to ensure security order and prevent bad guys to convince people to buy fares.
Despite of crowded streets around the station, there was no horrible gridlocks yet some passengers still came late. Director of Saigon Railways Transport Company Do Quang Van said 30 passengers come late a day for different reasons including traffic jams on year end days. The company still helped them to return their hometown. He warned people to read signs in order to avoid getting on wrong trains or lateness.
