[Editor’s Note]
Amidst the hustle and bustle of vehicles coming and going from all directions, the lively automobile passenger stations once served as a collective memory for several generations. With the changing times and shifts in transportation modes, more and more passenger stations are now at a “crossroads,” facing the question of whether to cease operations and close or to upgrade and transform. Where lies the path for the transformation of these passenger stations?
The Paper launches a series of reports titled “Passenger Stations at the Crossroads,” conducting on-site investigations and visits to representative passenger stations across the country, engaging in deep dialogues with industry experts, passenger transport practitioners, and management departments to jointly explore this question of transformation.
Wuhan’s Fujiapo Long-Distance Bus Passenger Station, which carries the travel memories of several generations, has exited the stage of history.
Fujiapo Passenger Station, established in 1984 and located at No. 358 Wuluo Road, Wuchang District, Wuhan, belonged to Hubei Road Passenger Transport (Group) Co., Ltd. It was once the largest professional long-distance bus passenger station in central China, one of the largest window units in the Hubei provincial transportation and postal system, and a national first-level AAA station.
On September 9, 2024, the last passenger bus departed from Fujiapo Passenger Station. (Photo source: Hubei Daily)
After 40 years of operation, Fujiapo Passenger Station officially ceased operations on September 9, 2024, following the departure of the last passenger bus. From September 10 onwards, all intercity and interprovincial passenger transport lines at Fujiapo Passenger Station were transferred to Hongji Passenger Station and Qingnian Road Passenger Station for continued operation.
The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) notes that currently, the land use attribute of the Fujiapo Passenger Station project site has been adjusted. The originally planned commercial land and protective green space within the project site are proposed to be adjusted to secondary residential land, park green space, and public parking spaces.
Long-distance passenger transport once played a crucial role in inter-provincial and inter-city travel. In recent years, with socio-economic development and the increasing popularity of travel modes such as railways, airplanes, and self-driving, the market for long-distance bus passenger transport has declined. Should it quietly bow out as the tide of the times advances, or seek change amidst adversity to survive? What is the future path for Wuhan’s traditional long-distance bus passenger stations?
On October 28, an exploration of Fujiapo Passenger Station after its closure. All photos in this article are by Wang Ting.
The 40-year-old Fujiapo Passenger Station bows out.
On October 28, more than a month after the official closure of Fujiapo Passenger Station, a reporter from The Paper conducted an on-site exploration and found that most of the businesses beside the waiting hall of Fujiapo Passenger Station had withdrawn, the entrance to the food court was also tightly closed, and nearby shops such as Shaxian Snacks, travel agencies, and car rental services had posted “Shop for Transfer” signs. Only one cold drink and grocery store remained open.
The Paper notes that the architectural style of the passenger station reveals a sense of age, with the exterior walls of the station appearing quite old. Approaching the waiting hall, the glass entrance doors were tightly closed and sealed with tape. Through the glass windows, one could see that the furnishings inside the waiting hall remained as usual, but all screens and lighting in the station had been turned off, making the hall appear dim.
The parking lot in front of Fujiapo Passenger Station was still in normal use, with some private cars parked there. There were no passengers on site, making it seem very desolate. Some areas beside the passenger station had construction fences set up, with work ongoing for the construction of Wuhan Metro Line 12.
The cold drink and grocery store that was still in operation was located to the left of the passenger station’s waiting hall. It was run by a lady in her sixties. She told The Paper that in the past few years, there was still a relatively large flow of people at Fujiapo, but after the pandemic, she felt that the number of passengers had gradually decreased. The small food and beverage shops around the passenger station had stopped relying on the passenger flow from the station for income and had switched to doing take-out services. The main income of the grocery store currently comes from selling water and cigarettes to drivers in the parking lot in front of the passenger station. She said that she had not stocked up on goods for a long time and just wanted to sell as much of the existing inventory in the store as possible before moving out.
The lady from the grocery store mentioned that there was another passenger station, Hongji Passenger Station, near Fujiapo Passenger Station. Hongji Passenger Station is not only adjacent to Wuchang Railway Station but also has a subway, making transportation more convenient. Therefore, many passenger transport lines have been transferred to Hongji Passenger Station.
The main entrance of Fujiapo Passenger Station is a four-lane bidirectional road with heavy traffic, while the side entrance is beside a two-lane road. There are also many schools around the passenger station, such as Wuhan No. 15 Middle School, Wuhan Primary School, and Wuluo Road Experimental School. During peak school hours, there is a large flow of people, and traffic jams often occurred when the passenger station was still in operation.
According to a report by Hubei Daily in September of this year, the final departing lines from Fujiapo Passenger Station were to Huangshi, Huangmei, Wuxue, Luotian, and Yingshan. The report showed that at 3 p.m. on September 9, when the last bus departed, the staff of Fujiapo Passenger Station waved goodbye to it. Thus, the 40-year-old Fujiapo Passenger Station exited the stage of history.
On October 28, the cold drink and grocery store beside Fujiapo Passenger Station was still in operation.
On November 3, a reporter from The Paper visited Fujiapo Passenger Station again and found that the entire passenger station area had been enclosed by tall cement walls. Almost all of the shops originally located on the side of the passenger station had closed their doors and ceased operations. The area inside the walls was completely obscured. Through the side gate, one could see that renovation work was in progress. Only one supermarket was still operating outside the walls, and the shop owner said that the area would be redeveloped into a commercial residential area, and they were also packing up their goods and planning to move out. Additional security personnel were also stationed at the main entrance of Fujiapo Passenger Station to manage the construction site entrance and maintain order.
On November 9, the Wuhan Wuchang District Natural Resources and Urban-Rural Construction Bureau released a modification announcement for the controlled detailed planning guidelines of management units A110801 and A110802 in the main urban area of Wuhan (Fujiapo Passenger Station plot).
According to the modification announcement, a 0.14-hectare park green space was added near the intersection of Wuluo Road and Meiyuan Road. Approximately 0.4 hectares of land for a primary school were added to the south of the site, and 2.29 hectares of commercial land were changed to residential land. Combined with minor adjustments to the land layout, the planned road and eastern public passage were fine-tuned, and an east-west 7-meter-wide public passage was added within the site. The location of the public parking lot was changed to accommodate 90 public parking spaces in conjunction with the primary school land. Community parks and protective green spaces to the south of Wuluo Road and west of Wuluo Road Fourth Lane each have 100 public parking spaces.
After the changes, the secondary residential land increased by 2.28 hectares, the primary school land increased by 0.4 hectares, the park green space increased by 0.14 hectares, the urban road land increased by 0.02 hectares, and the commercial land decreased by 2.84 hectares.
On November 3, construction walls were built around Fujiapo Passenger Station.
Once covering over 180 stations in 15 provinces and cities, with a daily passenger flow of 50,000 during the Spring Festival travel rush.
Public information shows that Fujiapo Passenger Station belonged to the Hubei Provincial Passenger Transport Group. Fujiapo Bus Passenger Station was completed and put into use in 1984, covering an area of 55,000 square meters, with a total construction area of 23,000 square meters and a parking area of 10,000 square meters. The total investment for its construction was 9.6 million yuan. In 1985, the station had 50 daily departures and served over 1,000 passengers per day.
Since its establishment and commissioning, Fujiapo Passenger Station has witnessed the rapid development of Wuhan’s transportation industry. As the largest professional long-distance bus passenger station in central China during its heyday, the station had 188 operating lines. Its passenger transport network spanned 15 provinces and cities including Hunan, Shandong, Jiangxi, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Shanghai, covering over 180 stations with a radiation radius of over 2,000 kilometers.
Over the years, Fujiapo Passenger Station has also undergone renovations, such as in 20