Vietnam Railways
Encyclopedia
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
is operated by the state-owned Vietnam Railways (Đường sắt Việt Nam). The principal route is the thousand-mile single track
Single track (rail)
A single track railway is where trains in both directions share the same track. Single track is normally used on lesser used rail lines, often branch lines, where the traffic density is not high enough to justify the cost of building double tracks....
North-South Railway line, running between Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
and Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...
. This was built at the metre gauge
Metre gauge
Metre gauge refers to narrow gauge railways and tramways with a track gauge of . In some African, American and Asian countries it is the main gauge. In Europe it has been used for local railways in France, Germany, and Belgium, most of which were closed down in mid 20th century. Only in Switzerland...
in the 1880s during the French colonial rule. There are also standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
lines running from Hanoi to the People’s Republic of China, eventually leading to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, and some mixed gauge in and around Hanoi.
Problems
Notwithstanding the poor state of the country’s road network, the railway system does not make a great contribution to the national transport infrastructure, carrying only about 7% of all freight. The 30 to 40-hour passenger trip between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City is undertaken by few, although visitor resorts such as HuếHue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
, Hội An
Hoi An
Hội An , or rarely Faifo, is a city of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea in the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is located in Quang Nam province and is home to approximately 120,000 inhabitants...
, and Nha Trang
Nha Trang
Nha Trang is a coastal city and capital of Khanh Hoa province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the North by Ninh Hoà district, on the East by the South China Sea, on the South by Cam Ranh town and on the West by Diên Khánh district...
lie along the route and generate some tourist traffic. Following the Sino-Vietnamese War
Sino-Vietnamese War
The Sino–Vietnamese War , also known as the Third Indochina War, known in the PRC as and in Vietnam as Chiến tranh chống bành trướng Trung Hoa , was a brief but bloody border war fought in 1979 between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam...
of 1978 some travel restraints are still in place in the border region and the usage of the lines north and east of Hanoi is curtailed as a result. The Ho Chi Minh City–Hanoi line is poorly maintained and the engineering infrastructure, much damaged by war, has even now received only temporary repair in many places. In addition, the center of the country is subject to violent annual flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
ing and bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
s are often swept away, causing lengthy closures.
Projects
In 2008, the Ho Chi Minh City government approved construction of a subway rail systemHo Chi Minh City Metro
The Ho Chi Minh City Metro is a proposed rapid transit network that will serve Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. The network was first proposed in 2001 as part of a comprehensive public transport network plan including Ho Chi Minh City and neighbouring provinces, with the aim of avoiding the severe...
, eventually to comprise four lines, the first to be completed by 2013.
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
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
and thus via Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
to Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
are also under consideration. A parliamentary resolution of 2005 proposed that foreign investors
Foreign direct investment
Foreign direct investment or foreign investment refers to the net inflows of investment to acquire a lasting management interest in an enterprise operating in an economy other than that of the investor.. It is the sum of equity capital,other long-term capital, and short-term capital as shown in...
be invited to invest in Vietnam Railways.
On 9/11/08 the Cambodian Ministry of Transportation announced a new railway line with the total length of 257 km will connect Phnom Penh with Loc Ninh (Binh Phuoc province), Vietnam. This 550 – million – dollar 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, from Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
to Vinh
Vinh
Vinh is a city in Vietnam. It is located in the northern half of the country, and is the capital of Nghệ An Province. Politically, Vinh is a municipality within Nghệ An Province. On September 5th, 2008, it was upgraded from Grade-II city to Grade-I city, the fourth Grade-I city of Vietnam after...
and from Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...
to Nha Trang
Nha Trang
Nha Trang is a coastal city and capital of Khanh Hoa province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the North by Ninh Hoà district, on the East by the South China Sea, on the South by Cam Ranh town and on the West by Diên Khánh district...
.
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
Hai Van Tunnel
The Hai Van Tunnel, the longest tunnel in Southeast Asia at 6.28km, lies on highway 1 between the two cities of Danang and Huế in central Vietnam.-History:The Hai Van Pass has long been recognised as a major bottleneck...
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 Đà Lạt was once connected by a scenic little rack railway
Rack railway
A rack-and-pinion railway is a railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with this rack rail...
to the main north-south line at Thap Cham
Phan Rang-Tháp Chàm
Phan Rang-Tháp Chàm, also called Panduranga, is a new city in Vietnam and the capital of Ninh Thuan province. The community has a population of 161,000 , of which 91,000 live in the main city....
. 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 Đà Lạt is an 8 km remnant from the old railway connection that runs from Đà Lạt 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
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
systems within Hanoi.
High speed rail plans cancelled
Vietnam Railways also planned a 1630 kilometres (1,013 mi) high-speed standard gaugeStandard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
link from its capital Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
in the north to Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...
in the south, capable of running at 250 to 300 km/h (155.3 to 186.4 mph). The funding of the $33 billion line was to come mostly from the Vietnamese government, with the help of Japanese aid. The current single track line has journey times from just under thirty hours, and initially this would be cut to less than nine hours. From there, a speedup to 5 hours (300 km/h (186 mph) max) by 2025 is planned. The Vietnamese prime minister has set a target to complete the line by 2013, three years sooner than the previously announced nine year construction time. In May 2010, this plan was rejected by the government.
Lines
- Hanoi-Saigon
- Hanoi-Lao Cai
- Hanoi-Quan Trieu
- Hanoi-Dong Dang
- Hanoi-Haiphong
- Kep-Uong Bi
- Hanoi-Thai Nguyen
Stations
- Saigon
- Nha Trang
- Dieu Tri
- Quảng Ngãi
- Da Nang
- Hue
- Dong Hoi
- Vinh
- Haiphong
- Hanoi
- Dong Dang
- Lao Cai
- Bien Hoa
- Bong Son
- Duc Pho
- Nui Thanh
- Ta Ky
- Tra Kieu
- Dieu Tri
Gauges
(2169 km) (standard gaugeStandard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
, 178 km) and (dual gauge
Dual gauge
A dual-gauge or mixed-gauge railway has railway track that allows trains of different gauges to use the same track. Generally, a dual-gauge railway consists of three rails, rather than the standard two rails. The two outer rails give the wider gauge, while one of the outer rails and the inner rail...
, 253 km)
Fleet
- 331 diesel locomotiveDiesel locomotiveA diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...
s - 34 steam locomotives
- 852 coaches
- 3922 cars
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
See also
- China Railways DFH21, known as the D10H in Vietnam.
- Gia Lam Train CompanyGia Lam Train CompanyGia Lam Train Company is a Vietnamese railcar manufacturer. The company supplies cars to Vietnam Railways. Gia Lam is also the name of the main station in Hanoi, and also an airport.-Products:* Air suspension bogie for coach* Bogie for coach...
- Haiphong Carriage CompanyHaiphong Carriage CompanyHaiphong Carriage Company is a Vietnamese railcar manufacturer. The company supplies cars to Vietnam Railways.-Products:* Air-conditioned soft seat coach* Hard berth coach* Berth coach* Double-deck car* Dining car* Civil service and generator car...
- Ho Chi Minh City MetroHo Chi Minh City MetroThe Ho Chi Minh City Metro is a proposed rapid transit network that will serve Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. The network was first proposed in 2001 as part of a comprehensive public transport network plan including Ho Chi Minh City and neighbouring provinces, with the aim of avoiding the severe...
- Rail transport in VietnamRail transport in VietnamThe railway system in Vietnam is owned and operated by the state-owned Vietnam Railways . The principal route, the single track North-South Railway running between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, accounts for of the network's total length of...
- Transport in VietnamTransport in Vietnam- Railways :The Vietnamese railway network has a total length of , dominated by the single track North-South Railway running between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The national railway network uses mainly metre gauge, although there are several standard gauge and mixed gauge lines in the North of the...