[Editor’s Note]
Amidst the bustling traffic flowing north and south, the lively automobile passenger stations once served as a collective memory for 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 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, is affiliated with 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.
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 transportation 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 commercially zoned land and protective green space originally planned within the project site are proposed to be adjusted to secondary residential land, park green space, and public parking spaces.
Long-distance passenger transportation once bore the important responsibility of inter-provincial and inter-city travel. In recent years, with socio-economic development, the popularization of railways, airplanes, and self-driving, the market for long-distance bus passenger transportation has declined. Should it quietly bow out as the tides of the times push forward, or seek transformation 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.
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, and the entrance to the food court was also tightly closed. The neighboring shops such as Shaxian Snacks, travel agencies, and car rental services had all posted “shop for lease” signs, with only one cold drink and grocery store still in operation.
The Paper notes that the architectural style of the passenger station reveals a sense of era, and the exterior walls of the station are relatively old. Approaching the waiting hall, the glass entrance doors are tightly closed with seals. Through the glass windows, one can see that the furnishings inside the waiting hall remain as usual, but all the screens and lighting in the station have been turned off, making the hall appear dim.
The parking lot in front of Fujiapo Passenger Station is still in normal use, with some private cars parked there. There are no passengers on-site, making it appear very desolate. Some areas beside the passenger station have been fenced off for construction, where the Wuhan Metro Line 12 is being built.
The cold drink and grocery store that is still in operation is located to the left of the passenger station’s waiting hall. It is operated by a lady in her sixties. She told The Paper that in the previous few years, there was still a relatively large flow of people at Fujiapo, but after the pandemic, she felt that the number of passengers gradually decreased. The small eateries around the passenger station have not relied on the passenger flow for income in the past two years and have 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 has not stocked up on goods for a long time and just wants to sell as much of the existing inventory as possible before moving out.
The lady from the grocery store introduced that there is another 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 lines have been transferred to Hongji Passenger Station.
The main entrance of Fujiapo Passenger Station is a two-way four-lane road with heavy traffic, and there is a two-lane road beside the side entrance. 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 departures from Fujiapo Passenger Station were to Huangshi, Huangmei, Wuxue, Luotian, and Yingshan. The report showed that at 3 PM on September 9, when the last bus departed, the staff of Fujiapo Passenger Station waved goodbye to the bus. Thus, the 40-year history of Fujiapo Passenger Station came to an end.
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 the entire passenger station area had been enclosed by tall cement walls. Almost all the shops originally located on the side of the passenger station had closed their doors, and the inside of the walls was completely blocked. Through the side gate, one could see that renovation work was underway. Only one supermarket was still in operation outside the walls, and the shop owner said that the area will be rebuilt into a commercial residential complex, and they are also packing up their goods, planning to move out. Additional security personnel have been added to 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 the modified guidelines for the controlled detailed planning of management units A110801 and A110802 in the main urban area of Wuhan (Fujiapo Passenger Station plot).
According to the modified announcement, a 0.14-hectare park green space has been added at the intersection of Wuluo Road and Meiyuan Road, and approximately 0.4 hectares of land for a primary school have been added to the south of the site. A 2.29-hectare commercially zoned land has been changed to residential land; combined with微调 the land layout, the planning of the road to the south and the public passage to the east has been slightly adjusted, and an east-west 7-meter-wide public passage has been added within the site. The location of the composite social public parking lot has been changed to set up 90 social public parking spaces in conjunction with the primary school land. There are 100 social public parking spaces each in the community park and protective green space to the south of Wuluo Road and to the west of Wuluo Road Fourth Lane.
After the changes, the secondary residential land has been increased by 2.28 hectares, the primary school land by 0.4 hectares, the park green space by 0.14 hectares, and the urban road land by 0.02 hectares, while the commercially zoned land has been reduced 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 is affiliated with 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 construction was 9.6 million yuan. In 1985, the station had 50 daily departures and served over 1,000 passengers daily.
Since its completion 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 at that time, the station had 188 operating lines at its peak. 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 more than 2,000 kilometers.
Over the years, Fujiapo Passenger Station has also undergone renovations, such as in 20