At Ben Nua, near the foot of Long Bien Bridge in what is now the Tran Nhat Duat-Yen Phu area, three filling stations run by Shell, Texaco and Socony stood in a row. Coaches refueled here before carrying passengers to provinces including Hai Phong, Bac Ninh, Phu Lang Thuong, Lang Son, Cao Bang, Tuyen Quang, Bac Giang, Tam Dao and Viet Tri.
Intercity services at Ben Nua were posted with their destinations and the road distance from Hanoi. Before it, Cot Dong Ho, the Clock Tower, served as the city’s first passenger terminal. Hanoi added the Cua Nam and Kim Ma terminals in the 1920s. Photo taken in 1940-1941 by Harrison Forman