Passenger and freight transport growth impressively

Transport output increased sharply

The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have severely affected the transportation industry. It took nearly two years for transportation activities in Vietnam to basically return to normal as before the pandemic, although the difficulties of businesses, especially those in the aviation sector, are still quite weak.

In that context, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) has had many mechanisms and policies to support and encourage the transport sector to operate and develop. According to Mr. Uong Viet Dung, Chief of Office of the Ministry of Transport, in 2023, despite facing many difficulties and challenges, the Ministry of Transport will focus on implementing many drastic and synchronous solutions to promote transport activities and improve service quality.

The focus is on reviewing and perfecting legal documents on transport, promoting decentralization and delegation of authority, enhancing the application of information technology, cutting administrative procedures, strengthening inspection, examination, and strictly handling violations, continuing to implement the goals of restructuring the transport market share, increasing the transport market share of the railway, inland waterway and maritime sectors, thereby reducing pressure on road transport. "The volume of freight and passenger transport has increased compared to the same period in 2022" - said a representative of the Ministry of Transport.

Specifically, freight transport nationwide in 2023 will reach more than 2,100 million tons, an increase of nearly 13% over the same period in 2022, and passenger transport is estimated to reach over 4,200 million passengers, an increase of 11.5% over the same period in 2022.

Road transport is the core transport sector in economic and social activities. According to the Ministry of Transport, road transport activities are currently basically stable, in order, fully meeting the needs of convenient and safe travel of people and businesses. The Ministry of Transport has directed the organization of a general inspection of the operation of passenger transport vehicles under contract, tourist transport vehicles, especially vehicles with 10 seats or more; inspect and strictly handle illegal vehicles, illegal bus stations, and disguised vehicles on fixed routes; inspect the management of automobile transport business activities in 63 provinces and cities.

According to the investigation of the reporter of the  Vietnam Law Newspaper , road transport activities last year were very active, businesses after the "hibernation" period due to the pandemic have now returned to normal operations. At bus stations, fixed-route passenger buses are crowded with people; at border gates and ports, cargo vehicles are lined up one after another, and at times at some border gates, due to the large number of vehicles and goods, there was even a traffic jam.

The Ministry of Transport also said that air transport activities have continued to have many positive changes recently. Closely following market demand, the Ministry of Transport has directed airlines and units in the industry to supplement capacity during peak periods to meet passenger travel needs; actively discuss with aviation authorities to restore international routes and expand operations to new international markets.

In particular, during the 2024 Lunar New Year, due to high travel demand, the aviation industry had to approve airlines to operate about 1,800 flights at night.

According to the Ministry of Transport, international transport is gradually recovering with more than 61 foreign airlines and 5 Vietnamese airlines operating 147 international routes connecting Vietnam with 28 countries and territories. The Ministry of Transport has introduced biometric systems and used electronic identification accounts (VNeID) in aviation procedures at all airports; improving the efficiency of coordinating landing and take-off times (slots) at airports through harmoniously combining the system's response capacity with market demand.

In 2023, the total air passenger transport market will reach nearly 74 million passengers, an increase of 34.5% compared to 2022.

Railways and maritime transport are bustling.

The total volume of goods passing through seaports in 2023 is more than 756 million tons. (Photo: Ministry of Transport).

Regarding railway transport, according to the Ministry of Transport, the quality of this type of service is increasingly improving. In 2023, the railway transported 6.1 million passengers, equal to 135.4% compared to the same period in 2022. Freight transport reached 4.6 million tons. Direct revenue from transport reached nearly 4,000 billion VND.

To attract more passengers and goods, the Railway industry has an attraction policy. Specifically, it rents out entire carriages to partners to organize tours; rail tourism products such as culinary tours on the Hanoi - Hai Phong route, high-quality trains on the Hanoi - Da Nang route, etc. are implemented. Regarding goods, in addition to regular shipments, the Railway industry organizes specialized transportation according to plan for traditional cargo flows such as apatite, fertilizer, coal, rice, salt, etc. In addition, it deploys a cargo management software system to effectively manage and use carriages and achieve the highest efficiency in cargo transportation business.

To meet the freight transport needs of businesses, the Ministry of Transport has established a new international transit station at Kep Station in Bac Giang province, opening an international border gate inland; opening many international transit trains to transport export goods from Song Than and Yen Vien stations to China.

Especially, during this Lunar New Year, the number of people traveling by train from North to South is very crowded. In order to meet the travel needs of people during this time, the Railway industry plans to run 8 more trains connecting Saigon - Hanoi and vice versa. Thousands of train tickets are released by the Railway industry for the end of the year.

Maritime and inland waterway transport activities have also been strongly and effectively implemented. In particular, the volume of goods through the seaport system has maintained its growth momentum over the years and handled a large volume of import and export goods. Specifically, the estimated total volume of goods through seaports in 2023 is more than 756 million tons, up 5% over the same period in 2022, of which exports are more than 179 million tons, up 1% over the same period, imports are nearly 222 million tons, up 8% over the same period, domestic goods are more than 353 million tons, up 4% over the same period, and transit goods are unloaded about 2.5 million tons, up 44% over the same period.

Commenting on transport activities in recent times, Mr. Nguyen Van Thang - Minister of Transport said that in 2023 and the first days of 2024, transport activities maintained a stable growth momentum, helping people and businesses travel and circulate goods conveniently. "In 2023, the output of goods and passengers both increased by more than 10% compared to 2022. It is forecasted that in 2024, passenger and cargo transport will continue to grow by double digits," Mr. Thang commented.

However, the leader of the Ministry of Transport said that the transport sector, typically road transport, still has some shortcomings and limitations. In particular, the management of passenger transport activities is still inadequate. The situation of "illegal buses, illegal stations", and "disguised" contract vehicles is still complicated in many localities. Logistics costs are still high. "These issues need to be considered and resolved to have a more substantial and stronger change in the coming time", the head of the transport sector frankly acknowledged.

In addition, the leader of the Ministry of Transport also admitted that the aviation and railway sectors still have shortcomings and need to continue improving service quality so that people and businesses can be better served.