Two decade-old, 80-mln-yuan intercity bus stations remain idle in one city, People's Daily reports
The top official newspaper offers a peek into the overbuilt and wasted transportation infrastructure in China's northernmost province.
The Suihua East City Passenger Transport Station in Heilongjiang Province was completed in 2015 with an investment of over 36 million yuan, yet it has remained unopened for a decade. In the meantime, passengers continue to use a small, dilapidated facility near the railway station, where buses operate in cramped conditions and basic services lack proper safety checks. The contrast between the idle, modern structure and the overburdened, outdated station has caused ongoing inconvenience for travelers and frustration among nearby businesses that had expected economic benefits from the new site.
An investigation by People’s Daily reporters revealed multiple explanations for the delay. City transportation officials cited unresolved demolition at the station’s entrance, the contractor’s failure to submit inspection documents on time, and incomplete project settlement. The construction company, however, disputed this account, insisting that documents were delivered years earlier and blaming bureaucratic inertia, leadership changes, and reluctance among officials to take responsibility for past commitments. Over 18 million yuan of project funds remain unsettled. Disagreement over accountability, combined with procedural loopholes, has left the station unused and deteriorating.
The case also highlights broader questions about planning and oversight. During the same period, Suihua invested another 51 million yuan in Liuhe Passenger Station, which quickly closed due to low demand and has since been repurposed as an “innovation center.” With the rise of private car ownership and declining bus ridership, citizens question why such costly projects were built in the first place. Local officials now promise stricter feasibility studies and public consultations for future projects, while pledging that the East City station will finally open by the end of 2025.
Below is the report by the official newspaper of the Communist Party of China on Monday, August 18, 2025.
黑龙江绥化市——
3600万建客运站，10年未启用（来信调查）
Suihua City, Heilongjiang Province —
A Passenger Station Built with 36 Million Yuan Has Sat Unused for 10 Years
(Letter-Based Investigation)
By Zhao Bing and Jin Xin, Staff Reporters
People’s Daily (August 18, 2025, Page 07)
Editor,
The Suihua East City Passenger Transport Station in Heilongjiang, one of the people-benefit projects publicly announced by Suihua City, had a total investment of more than 36 million yuan. However, since its completion in 2015, the station has never been put into use. Citizens still take long-distance buses at the old and shabby station. The facility is dilapidated, and passenger vehicles crowd the roadside to operate, causing great inconvenience. We hope the relevant authorities can expedite the opening of the new station, creating a better travel environment for the public and making better use of public resources.
Mr. Wang
Suihua City, Heilongjiang Province
After receiving the letter, the reporters went to Suihua City, Heilongjiang, to investigate the bus station issue raised by the reader.
What is the current situation: The new station is built but unused; the old station is small and shabby
On the afternoon of August 6, the reporters visited the “newly built” Suihua East City Passenger Transport Station. This station, located on Taiping Street in Beilin District, measures about 80 meters in length (east-west) and about 10 meters in height.
Upon approaching, the reporters found the main entrance on the north side of the waiting hall locked. The ground in front of the gate was pitted, with dozens of cars parked haphazardly. The exterior façade of the station showed visible damage, with wall plaster peeling and glass broken. Through the windows, the reporters could see an empty waiting hall with rows of seats, many still covered in protective plastic.
On the station’s south side, a supporting parking lot stood nearly empty, with only a few sedans parked. The southern edge had a row of large vehicle garages, but not a single long-distance bus. To the west stood a residential building with bus garages beneath it.
“The station has been completed for 10 years, but I don’t know why it’s never been opened,” said the owner of a nearby supermarket. He explained that in 2017 he saw a notice saying the station would soon open, so he invested 700,000 yuan to take over the supermarket storefront. Yet the station never opened, and business has been poor. “I look forward every day to it opening, so my business can also benefit.”
A passerby pointed east and told the reporters: “The old East City Passenger Station is over there. Many passengers unfamiliar with the area just follow their navigation apps here to the new station, wasting their time. So many people get misled!”
Following her directions, the reporters walked about 10 minutes and reached a row of old storefronts opposite Suihua Railway Station. About a dozen long-distance buses were parked in the open space in front of the shops. Several people waved placards and shouted: “Bus to Hailun!” “Suiling, Suiling!”
“This is the East City Passenger Station? Where’s the ‘station’?”
Seeing the reporters’ confusion, a taxi driver pointed toward the middle of the storefronts: “There it is!”
Looking closely, there was a narrow entrance only two or three meters wide. Above it hung a blue sign with gold letters reading “Waiting Hall”, barely noticeable.
“Is this a regular bus station?”
“This is the official East City Passenger Station, not a private stop. You can buy tickets here normally, and online tickets can also be printed here,” a ticket seller at the entrance said.
Inside the waiting hall of about 100 square meters were five rows of chairs. Around the hall were ticket counters, offices, and a refund window. One window even displayed a “Party Member Pioneer Post” sign. The walls were peeling, and one corner stored boxes of snacks and drinks, with a refrigerator and rice cooker nearby selling bottled water and cooked corn.
A banner hung inside saying: “Passengers entering the station: check for prohibited items, safety for all.” But in the half-hour the reporters observed, passengers all entered and exited through the same door without any security checks.
“This place is too run-down. Look at the walls, look at the floor—it feels like it’s going out of business. Nobody manages it. And the new station isn’t being used,” a bus driver complained.
Why is the new station still unused?
“Apparently the government owes the construction company money. The government wants to take over the station, but the contractor doesn’t agree,” said one supermarket owner.
“I heard the residential buildings to the west and south of the parking lot were illegal constructions that occupied the station’s planned land, so it couldn’t pass inspection, which stopped it from being used,” said a local resident.
“There was a ‘nail household’ in front of the station that wasn’t demolished until a few years ago. Even after demolition, the station still didn’t open,” a sanitation worker added. Opinions varied.
Reasons for idleness: Late submission of inspection documents? New officials ignoring old debts?
The reporters interviewed the Suihua City Transportation Bureau, which oversees the East City Passenger Station.
The bureau’s records show construction began at the end of 2011 and basically finished by late 2015. The site covers 10,000 square meters, with a main building area of 3,313.07 square meters, and an estimated investment of 36.0073 million yuan.
Suihua City Transportation Bureau Director Song Jiaping gave three main reasons for the station not being opened:
A delayed-demolition house in front of the station was not cleared until late 2021, which delayed acceptance.
The contractor, Xinwei Company, failed to submit inspection documents on time, affecting the delivery process.
The project’s final settlement has not been completed.
Regarding the delayed household, bureau staff said it was at the main entrance, obstructing use. But Xinwei Company’s head, Jin Fujie, denied this: “The household was to the west of the entrance, not blocking passenger access.” Photos online and those provided by Jin showed a two-story house located indeed west of the main entrance’s open space.
As for rumors of illegal construction, the Natural Resources Bureau confirmed that the “illegal buildings” referred to by residents were Buildings No. 5 and No. 8 of Xinwei Shengtai Plaza. Building 5 was approved for mixed residential-commercial use; Building 8 for commercial use. Both met planning approvals and were not illegal.
So why was the station idle for 10 years?
“The main problem was procedural. Xinwei didn’t submit complete materials in time for final acceptance, so subsequent steps could not proceed,” said transportation bureau staff. They showed the reporters two notices sent to Xinwei in October 2016 and November 2018, urging submission of documents to complete acceptance and settlement.
According to Director Song, Xinwei only provided the complete documents in July 2023. The bureau then organized the design, construction, supervision, and survey bureaus for inspection, finally issuing a “Project Completion Delivery Report”—eight years after completion.
Jin Fujie (the contractor) disagreed. He admitted disputes over project settlement delayed delivered at first, but said both sides resolved the issue in November 2018, when Xinwei immediately submitted documents and a delivery report with relevant stamps was issued. However, the report lacked a clear date of approval. “Back then, people thought a stamped report was valid. Now, because no date was written, they are shifting the blame for the delay onto us,” Jin said.
It is true that the final settlement has not been made. Over 16 million yuan has been paid, but more than 18 million yuan remains unsettled.
“As the contractor, why wouldn’t I want to prepare documents early and get the money earlier? I’ve gone to the bureau at least a hundred times over the years,” said Jin. He blamed bureaucratic inertia: “Some leaders don’t want to deal with their predecessors’ issues. New officials ignore old debts. Others fear being held accountable for project payments.” He noted that leadership at the bureau had changed multiple times in the decade.
He also argued that staff lacked expertise in handling such procedures, leaving the company to push matters along itself.
Lessons: Was the process sound? Was planning scientific?
During the interviews, citizens remarked that with the new station idle for years, complaints were useless while the facility decayed unused.
Only last year did things start to improve. The bureau hired a third-party firm to assess project costs, which will then be reviewed by the city’s finance department before handover. The passenger transport authority has formed a task force to check facilities. Meanwhile, transportation officials and Xinwei agreed to let the bureau enter the station early to repair broken windows, walls, and equipment.
Jin said both sides had largely agreed on the settlement amount for the main project, though expenses incurred by Xinwei for maintaining the station remain to be negotiated.
“The new East City Station is expected to be in operation by the end of 2025,” said Director Song.
For a “people-benefit project” costing tens of millions to sit idle for 10 years, what lessons have been learned?
“At the time, there were indeed loopholes in procedures and contracts, and weak management systems. We must learn the lesson—such things must never happen again,” Song admitted.
But was the planning itself unreasonable?
“It’s not just the East City Station. There’s also the larger Liuhe Passenger Station in the south, built but rarely used. Now that more people own cars, fewer take long-distance buses. Why build so many stations back then?” a citizen asked.
The reporters drove 20 minutes south to Liuhe Station and found it had been converted into the “Suihua Economic and Technological Development Zone Innovation Center.” The building was even larger than the East City Station.
Records show Liuhe Station was completed at the end of 2015, covering 20,000 square meters with an investment of about 51.56 million yuan.
Why did the city invest more than 80 million yuan to build two large stations in the same period?
Transportation officials explained that both projects were planned during a period of strong long-distance bus demand. “It’s unfair to say the planning was unreasonable. At the time, the municipal government planned a new urban district, and Liuhe Station was intended to meet that need.” However, since the district plan was never approved by higher authorities, Liuhe Station was underused and closed after just over a year due to losses.
In October 2020, the station was transferred to the economic development zone, which repurposed it into an “innovation center.” Yet the reporters observed that aside from the government service center, a supermarket, and two companies, most of the building remained idle.
“Now we conduct thorough evaluations before construction,” said Song. “For example, for road projects, we do scientific feasibility studies, field surveys, and public opinion polls, to avoid waste of finances and resources.”