Vietnam travel by train

Vietnam travel by train

In Vietnam today, there are several means of transportation, such as airplane, boat, car, motorcycle, bicycle and train. You can go from Hanoi to Saigon in just 2 hours by plane. However, many travelers want to spend 24 hours by train to move between these 2 major cities, because the trip to Vietnam by train brings travelers special experiences. 

If you like rail travel, the railway system in Vietnam can help you achieve it. The services are not really luxurious, but at the acceptable level. The speed of trains in Vietnam is not as big as TGV in France. It's good for you to look at the sites along the way. Vietnamese trains leave and arrive almost on time. Delays are rare, except in the storm and flood season.
 

With the night train from Hanoi to Lao Cai - a city in North West Vietnam, you can save the cost of a hotel night. The length of 296 km by train takes you about 8 hours in the cabin. Yet the next day you can still visit Lao Cai and Sapa because you slept well in the train cabin with the soft bunks. We can mention here the names of the Hanoi - Laocai trains for you to choose from: Victoria, Livitran, Fansipan, King Express, Tulico ...

Returning to Hanoi by night train too (if you want), you continue to visit some sites in Hanoi before taking the night train to Nanning (China), or Beijing (China), or Hue or Da Nang or Saigon.

From Hanoi to Nanning or Beijing, there are only night trains.

From Hanoi to Saigon, there is the day train, but we offer the night train, because the quality of the night train is better than the daytime train. After 1975, the railroad linking Hanoi and Saigon is called the "Reunification Train". If it bears this name, because we want to memorize the Reunification of the 2 North and South regions after 20 years of war (1954 - 1975).

All compartments are air conditioned. In these trains there are 2 kinds of tickets: hard chair or soft berth. The price of the 6-berth compartment is cheaper than that of 4 berths. The price of the chairs is better, but it is less comfortable and less pleasant so we always advise our customers to take the berths to better enjoy your trip by train including the trip between Hanoi - Saigon (1726 km).

In the train restaurant, you can also buy mineral water, sparkling water, beer, fast foods. His qualities are acceptable, if you are not too demanding.

Currently, the oldest railway station and track in Vietnam are in Da Lat (Lam Dong province). The Da Lat station was built in 1932, according to the French style mixed with the style of the mountain dwellers. A short trip to Da Lat with a distance of 7km will guide you to visit the picturesque village of Trai Mat and the ceramic pagoda of Linh Phuoc.

We think of the need to note here some historical features of the Vietnamese railway, because this is related to the French. Before the arrival of the French in 1858, Vietnam was an agricultural country with the main means of transport like rickshaw, boat, barque. The French built the first railroad in Vietnam linking Saigon and My Tho in 1881 with the distance of 70 km. The first train from Saigon to My Tho used the steam locomotive called "Myre de Villers". In 1896, the new diesel locomotives with greater traction capacity were imported to the South to replace the locomotives with steam. This route was stopped in 1958 because of the development of roads and cars.

Until 1936, the railroad system had spread throughout Vietnam with a total length of 2,600 km. Everything was built by the French in the colonial era. Most of today's railways still maintain the size of 1,000 mm, as in the early days of its history. In fact, there are also some paths where one enlarges the size to the world standard (1,435 mm), but it is not significant.