Vietnam's HCM City to develop "river bus" routes

Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City has approved a project totaling 128 billion Vietnamese ( nearly 5.9 million U.S. dollars) to build two inland waterway transport routes, local newspaper Phap Luat Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh (Ho Chi Minh City Law) reported Wednesday.

The"river bus"routes will carry passengers on boats from District 1 to District 6 and Thu Duc District, helping reduce heavy traffic on roads as well as develop the city's waterway tourism.

The first route, Bach Dang-Linh Dong, will be 11km long and have seven stops in districts 1, 2, Binh Thanh and Thu Duc. The second, Bach Dang-Lo Gom, will be over 10km long with seven stops in districts 1, 4, 5, 6 and 8.

It will take boat passengers some 30 minutes to complete a route. The fare is expected to be around 30,000 Vietnamese dong ( nearly 1.4 U.S. dollars).

All works on the two routes is expected to be completed in 2016. By that year, 10 boats capable of carrying 60 passengers each will be put into use in the 2016-2020 period. After 2020, larger boats will be used.

From now to the end of this year, Ho Chi Minh City will build and upgrade 45 wharves and waiting halls, develop 65 sites in districts which have inland waterway tourism routes, and build three community tourism sites in its rural districts, the municipal authorities announced in early July. Endi