Vietnam railways

Contents:

            1/ Route

            2/ Classes


            3/ Contact and Booking

  
            4/ Price 

            5/ Attention

            6/ News

                                Pic: Vietnam railways

1/ Route

The 2600km Vietnam railway system opareated by Vietnam railways runs along the beautiful coast between Sai Gon and Ha Noi as well as links to Hai Phong city and Lao Cai city, gate to Sapa town.


At present, it has no link to Mekong delta.

Note: Odd-numbered trains travel South and even-numbered trains travel North. The fastest train service is provided by Reunification Express (Tau thong nhat)  which runs between Sai Gon and Ha Noi. Reunification express train code: TN1 and TN2

 
2/ Classes
 There are four main classes: hard seat (ngoi cung), soft seat (ngoi mem), hard sleeper (nam cung) and soft sleeper (nam mem). These are also split into air-conditioned and non air-conditioned options (air-conditioned in Vietnamese language: dieu hoa. Abbreviation for "dieu hoa" is DN)


Say:  Soft seat with air-con will be coded Ngoi Mem DH
        Hard seat with air-con will be Ngoi Cung DH
        Soft sleeper with air-con will be Nam Mem DH



3/ Contact and booking
 Website: www.gasaigon.com.vn

"Ga" means train station 
 

Note: tickets run out of stock quickly during traditional new year (middle of January to the end of February). You need to book as soon as possible 
 
Sai Gon train station (Ga Sai Gon)
01 Nguyen Thong street - Ward 9 - District 3 - Ho Chi Minh city.
Booking: (84.8) 3843 6528. Free delivery in city center (under 7 km. More than 7 km will be charged. Working hours: 7:00AM - 9:00PM)
 
Booking office at Sai Gon's backpacker area: 275C Pham Ngu Lao street, district 1, tel: (08) 38 367 640

Nha Trang train station
17 Thai Nguyen street - Nha Trang city
Booking:(058)382 2113 Fax: (058) 381 1117
Free delivery in city


Dieu Tri station (for Quy Nhon beach)
Dieu Tri town - Tuy Phưoc district - Binh Đinh province
Booking:(056)383 3255 Fax:(056)383 4715


Quang Ngai strain station
Tran Phu ward - Quang Ngai city
Booking:(055)3825 072


Tam Ky train station (for Hoi An ancient town)
Nguyen Hoan street - Tam Ky city - Quang Nam province
Booking:(0510) 3828 488

Da Nang train station
202 Hai Phong street - Tan Chinh ward - Thanh Khe district - Đa Nang city
Booking:(0511)382 3810 Fax: (0511) 381 8513

Hue train station
01 Bui Thi Xuan street - Hue city
Tel: (054) 3822 175

Ha Noi train station (Ga Ha Noi)

www.gahanoi.com.vn

120 Le Duan street, Ha Noi city

Booking: (04) 3942 3697

4/ Price

Prices are a little bit higher than express bus

Prices will be increased during school summer break (between June and September) and during traditional new year (Middle of January until the end of February) 

 5/ Attention

The food supplied by the railway company, included in the tickets for some long journey, but is just on "basic flavour" to fill your empty stomach.  
There are vendors at every station who board the train to sell food and drinks.

Petty crime is a problem on the trains. So keep your eyes at your valuables.

Children sometimes throw rocks into train. So be careful if you sit beside the window.

The train runs through many cities. And accidents sometimes happened as some local people tried to cross railway when the train is coming.    


6/ News

(ThanhNienNews, Feb 07 2015) - Choo choo! Here come the 5-star trains that will change how Vietnamese travel

Comfortable seats? Check.

Clean bathrooms? Check.

Bunks? Cleanly white and totally bug-free.

Welcome aboard to Vietnam’s first trains that are equipped with five-star services!

A 31-hour trip between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City has never been more comfortable. 

And there is no fare hike. 

Two north-south trains have recently been put back in operation, after a VND83 billion (US$3.84 million) upgrade. Fares on the SE3 and SE4 are unchanged. 

The captain of SE3 and his crew line up to welcome their passengers aboard. The train leaves Hanoi at 10 p.m. and arrives at HCMC’s Railway Station about 31 hours later, usually at 5:30 a.m. It has 13 cars, including two with dining facilities.  

Each train has 31 crew members who are well-dressed and had to go through “strict” training sessions before landing the jobs. 

It costs VND1.2 million ($55.5) to get a soft seat in an air-conditioned car that is also equipped with TVs. The floor is made from aluminum for better sound-proofing, and is covered with a Japanese-imported mat. 

A six-sleeper compartment costs VND1.5 million per bed. Blankets, pillow covers and mattresses are brand-new and always checked before boarding time.  

The most luxury car has four bunks in each compartment that charges VND1.7 million each.

At a dining car, food prices are also the same: VND30,000 ($1.4) for noodles, VND35,000 for rice dishes, and VND12,000-25,000 for coffee, beer and cokes.