[Editor’s Note]
Amidst the hustle and bustle of traffic flowing to and fro, the once lively automobile passenger stations hold collective memories for generations. With the changing times and shifts in transportation modes, more and more passenger stations are now at a “crossroads,” facing the decision of whether to cease operations and close or to upgrade and transform. What is the path forward for the transformation of these passenger stations?
The Paper launches a series of reports titled “Passenger Stations at the Crossroads,” conducting field research 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, belongs to Hubei Highway 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 Hubei’s 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 after the last passenger bus departed on September 9, 2024. 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 protected green space originally planned and controlled 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 continuous popularization of travel modes such as railways, airplanes, and self-driving has led to a decline in the market for long-distance bus transportation. Should it quietly bow out as the tide of the times pushes 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, the Fujiapo Passenger Station was visited after its closure.
The 40-year-old Fujiapo Passenger Station has come to an end.
On October 28, more than a month after the official closure of Fujiapo Passenger Station, a reporter from The Paper conducted an on-site visit 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 neighboring 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 noticed that the architectural style of the passenger station revealed a sense of age, and the exterior walls of the station were relatively old. Approaching the waiting hall, the glass entrance doors were tightly closed and sealed with tape. Through the glass windows, it could be seen that the furnishings inside the waiting hall remained as usual, but all the 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, and it seemed very desolate. Some areas beside the passenger station had construction fences set up, and the Wuhan Metro Line 12 was being built.
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 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 food and beverage shops around the passenger station had stopped relying on the passenger flow from the station to earn money and had switched to doing take-out services in the last two years. 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 stopped stocking up on goods for a long time and just wanted to sell as much of the existing inventory as possible before moving away.
The lady from the grocery store introduced that there was also a Hongji Passenger Station near Fujiapo Passenger Station. Hongji Passenger Station is not only adjacent to Wuchang Railway Station but also has subway access, 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 departure lines from Fujiapo Passenger Station were to Huangshi, Huangmei, Wuxue, Luotian, and Yingshan. The report showed that at 3:00 PM on September 9, when the last bus departed, the staff of Fujiapo Passenger Station waved goodbye to the bus. 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 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 ceased operations. The inside of the enclosed area was tightly covered, and through the side gate, it could be seen that renovation work was being carried out. Only one supermarket was operating outside the wall, and the shop owner said that the area would be rebuilt into a commercial residential complex, and they were also packing up their goods, planning to move away. Additional security personnel were added to the main entrance of Fujiapo Passenger Station to manage the construction site entrance and maintain order.
On November 9, the Wuchang District Natural Resources and Urban-Rural Construction Bureau of Wuhan issued a modification announcement for the regulatory 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, and approximately 0.4 hectares of land for a primary school were added to the south of the site. A 2.29-hectare commercially zoned land was changed to residential land; the southern planning road and the eastern public passageway were slightly adjusted in layout along with the land use, and an east-west 7-meter-wide public passageway was added within the site. The location of the comprehensive public parking lot was changed to provide 90 public parking spaces in conjunction with the primary school land. Community parks and protected green spaces to the south of Wuluo Road and to the west of Wuluo Road 4th Lane each have 100 comprehensive 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 commercially zoned 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 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 operation, 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 transportation 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 2007