Vietnam Rail Pass
Vietnam Rail Tickets

Vietnam Rail Pass - Vietnam Rail Tickets

Vietnam Railways

Vietnam Railways (VNR, Vietnamese: Đường sắt Việt Nam) is the state-owned operator of the railway system in Vietnam. The principal route is the 1,727 km (1,100 mi) single-track North-South Railway line, running between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. This was built at the metre gauge in the 1880s during the French colonial rule. There are also standard gauge lines running from Hanoi to the People’s Republic of China, eventually leading to Beijing, and some mixed gauge in and around Hanoi.

Vietnam Railways Problems

While the state of the country’s road network is consistently improving, the railway system makes a significant contribution to the national transport infrastructure, with multiple daily freight trains, many being movement of containers. The 29-34-hour passenger trip between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City is very popular both with locals and foreign visitors, accommodations are hard seat, soft seat, 4 beth sleeper and 6 beth sleeper. Coastal resorts such as Hu?, H?i An, and Nha Trang lie along the route and generate considerable tourist traffic. There are no travel restraints in place, and tickets for most trains can be purchased on-line. In the border region the Sapa line to north is a very popular tourist attraction, with first class accommodation available. East of Hanoi the line is dual gauge, with through trains to China available. Visas are required to book cross-border trains. The Ho Chi Minh City-Hanoi line has been rebuilt and upgraded, and damage from the war has been repaired.

Vietnam Railways Projects

There is a long-term plan to build a completely new standard-gauge line to connect the two main cities. New international routes to Phnom Penh and thus via Bangkok to Singapore are also under consideration. A parliamentary resolution of 2005 proposed that foreign investors be invited to invest in Vietnam Railways. On September 11, 2008, the Cambodian Ministry of Transportation announced a new railway line with the total length of 257 km (160 mi) will connect Phnom Penh with Loc Ninh (Binh Phuoc province), Vietnam. This US$550 million project has been carefully investigated by Chinese experts and is about to be carried out in the near future. Vietnam is extending its network to Loc Ninh. In August 2010, the government announced plans to build two sections of standard-gauge railway, one from Hanoi to Vinh and the other from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang.

Although on the face of things the possibility of a good return might appear small, there are precedents: the lines into China have benefited from Chinese investment and, more recently, Japanese investment was spent on the Hai Van Tunnel project, a new road tunnel alongside the north-south rail line near Da Nang.

At a more local level, the picturesque hill town and resort of Ðà L?t was once connected by a scenic little rack railway to the main north-south line at Thap Cham. Although there is now little visible trace of the trackbed in the green and fertile landscape, local businesses have secured a promise of government funding for its reinstatement, to benefit tourism in the area. Currently, the only railway at Ðà L?t is an 8 km (5 mi) remnant from the old railway connection that runs from Ðà L?t station to the nearby village of Trại Mát. This is run as a tourist attraction.

Other projects likely to receive foreign money are proposed light rail systems within Hanoi.

Vietnam Railways High-speed Rail Plans on Hold

Vietnam Railways also planned a 1,630 km (1,013 mi) high-speed standard gauge link from its capital Hanoi in the north to Ho Chi Minh City in the south, capable of running at 250 to 300 km/h (155 to 186 mph). It was planned to have an initial travel time of 9 hours and to make a series of improvements over time to eventually reduce the time to 5 hours. The current single track line has journey times from just under thirty hours.

The funding of the $33 billion line was to come mostly from the Vietnamese government, with the help of Japanese aid (on the understanding that Japanese firms would engineer the bulk of the project). In 2010, there was an unsuccessful push to fund the project, and efforts to promote the project have fallen off since then.

The timetable called for the initial construction (the 9-hour line) to be completed in 2016, and the line improvements (the 5-hour line) by 2025. At one point, the Vietnamese prime minister had set a target to complete the line by 2013. Approval was delayed several times, and in May 2010, the plan was finally rejected by the government.

Vietnam Railways Locomotives
 

#	Type	Units	Power
1	D12E	40	987 horsepower (736 kW)
2	D18E	16	1,800 horsepower (1,300 kW)
3	D11H	23	1,100 horsepower (820 kW)
4	D19E	80	1,950 horsepower (1,450 kW)
5	D9E	33	900 horsepower (670 kW)
6	D10E	22	1,000 horsepower (750 kW)
7	D13E	24	1,300 horsepower (970 kW)
8	D5H	13	500 horsepower (370 kW)
9	D10H	20	1,000 horsepower (750 kW)
10	D8E	2	800 horsepower (600 kW)
11	D4H	77	400 horsepower (300 kW)
12	TY8	4	180 horsepower (130 kW)
13	TY6P	1	180 horsepower (130 kW)
14	D4HR	2	400 horsepower (300 kW)
15	D19Er	5	1,950 horsepower (1,450 kW)
16	D14E	5	1,400 horsepower (1,000 kW)
17	AR15/D20E	16	2,011 horsepower (1,500 kW)

Vietnam Railways Overview

Vietnam Railways Routes

North-South
Hanoi-Beijing

Vietnam Railways Train Lines

Hanoi-Saigon Railway
Hanoi-Lao Cai Railway
Hanoi-Quan Trieu Railway
Hanoi-Dong Dang Railway
Hanoi-Haiphong Railway
Kep-Ha Long Railway

Vietnam Railways Stations

Saigon station
Nha Trang station
Diêu Trì station
Quảng Ngãi station
Đà Nẵng station
Huế station
Đồng Hới station
Vinh station
Hải Phòng station
Hanoi station
Đồng Đăng station
Lào Cai station
Biên Hòa station
Bồng Sơn station
Đức Phổ station
Núi Thành station
Tam Kỳ station
Trà Kiệu station
Tháp Chàm station
Phan Thiết station

Vietnam Railways Gauges

1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3/8 in) (2,169 km (1,348 mi))
1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1/2 in) (standard gauge, 178 km (111 mi))
1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1/2 in) and 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3/8 in) (dual gauge, 253 km (157 mi))

Vietnam Railways Trackage

Total 3,160 km (1,960 mi)
506 km (314 mi) of siding

Vietnam Railways Fleet

331 diesel locomotives
34 steam locomotives
852 coaches
3922 cars

Vietnam Railways Hotels

Hai Can Nam Hotel
Saigon Hotel
Kham Thien Hotel
Mat Son Hotel
Sam Son Hotel
Ha Thanh Hotel
Le Ninh Hotel
Nha Trang Hotel
Ca Na Hotel
Dat Lat Railway Hotel
Ky Dong Hotel
Hai Van Bac Hotel
Mua Xuan Hotel

Vietnam Railways Native Name:     Đường sắt Việt Nam
Vietnam Railways Type:                    State-owned enterprise
Vietnam Railways Industry:             Rail transport
Vietnam Railways Headquarters:   Hanoi, Vietnam

Vietnam Railways Vietnam Railways

List of Railway Lines in Vietnam List of Railway Lines in Vietnam

Vietnam Rail Transport Vietnam Rail Transport