On the afternoon of September 2, the final day of the National Day holiday, traffic returning to Hanoi from provinces and cities increased, causing congestion at some gateways to the capital.
At about 2.30 pm, traffic on Co Linh Road heading towards Vinh Tuy Bridge and Dam Quang Trung Street rose sharply. Long lines of cars and motorbikes moved slowly.
At the Co Linh-Dam Quang Trung junction, traffic both ascending and descending Vinh Tuy Bridge became snarled. The area is undergoing underpass construction, narrowing the carriageway and limiting capacity as traffic volumes rise.
Vehicles were forced to inch forward in short stretches, repeatedly bunching up at the junction.
Hot weather made travel in the dense traffic even more difficult, with many people appearing exhausted after their journey back to the capital.
On the Hanoi-Haiphong Expressway, the eastern gateway to Hanoi, congestion was also recorded on the stretch bordering Hung Yen Province in the direction of central Hanoi.
Traffic on the expressway moved slowly, with many drivers choosing the frontage road to avoid the tailback above.
At other gateway routes into the capital such as the Phap Van-Cau Gie Expressway, old National Highway 1A, Do Muoi, Hoang Liet, the elevated Ring Road 3 and Ngoc Hoi, traffic was generally clear and vehicles moved steadily.
By about 4 pm, Ngoc Hoi Road heading into central Hanoi, on the stretch in front of Nuoc Ngam Bus Station, was fairly busy but traffic remained stable, with no serious congestion.
On Ring Road 3 heading into the capital's centre, long lines of vehicles stretched ahead. Despite the heavy traffic, vehicles were still able to move.
At 3 pm at My Dinh Bus Station, passenger numbers were high but the area was still quieter than during many previous holiday periods. Travellers carrying luggage streamed out of the station, but there was no overcrowding.
At Giap Bat Bus Station, the atmosphere on the afternoon of September 2 was subdued, with relatively few vehicles arriving from the provinces.
By about 3.30 pm, passenger numbers had risen, but the concourse and access roads to the station still did not see the crowding typical of some previous holiday periods.
Cao Van Toan, wearing black, returned to Hanoi from Thanh Hoa Province with several boxes of essentials weighing more than 20 kilogrammes. The student said he was surprised Giap Bat Bus Station was quieter than during previous holiday periods.
"Normally, it takes me about two and a half hours to travel from Thanh Hoa to Giap Bat Bus Station. Today, there were traffic jams on some stretches, so the total journey took about three hours," Toan said.
Outside the station gate, a considerable number of service vehicles gathered to pick up passengers. But the number of arriving travellers was not high enough to cause prolonged congestion outside the entrance.
