On August 12, Tien Phong Newspaper’s reporters observed that there was no designated parking area for visitors traveling by car, and they had to resort to unofficial parking options.
The area surrounding the station witnessed chaotic parking situations, with vehicles parked haphazardly.
Due to the lack of official parking arrangements, commuters were compelled to resort to unofficial parking options on the streets and sidewalks, often at rates higher than the regulated prices.
According to the Hanoi Metropolitan Railway One-Member Limited Company (Hanoi Metro), the design and functionality of the Nhon-Hanoi Railway stations, including the eight elevated stations, do not allocate space for public parking. Consequently, passengers arriving by car or motorcycle must find parking alternatives outside the stations.
To address this issue, since 2022, the Hanoi People’s Committee has tasked the Hanoi Department of Transport, in collaboration with the Hanoi Parking Lot Exploitation Company, with surveying and organizing parking areas near the stations to cater to commuters’ needs.
However, despite the railway being operational for several days, these designated parking areas remain only on paper. In the meantime, unofficial parking services continue to operate blatantly.
Even the space under the overpass of Vanh Dai 2 Road near Cau Giay has been converted into an unofficial parking lot, catering to railway passengers.
Hanoi Metro reported that the Nhon-Hanoi Railway has been witnessing a high volume of passengers, even surpassing the average number of commuters on the Cat Linh-Ha Dong line. Specifically, from the commencement of operations on August 8 until now, the daily passenger count ranges from 40,000 to 60,000, with a peak of 100,515 passengers recorded on Sunday, August 11.
