The stagnation of Vietnam’s railways

The perpetually proposed North-South Express Railway, reduced and suspended services in the north, and the relocation of Hanoi station outside the city centre.

I’ve learned not to get too excited about new railway announcements in Vietnam, as that will only lead to disappointment. In fact, Vietnam is at the bottom of the list of major countries in Southeast Asia for railway development. Vietnam has fewer railway services operating than it did in 2019, with no new railways under construction (this does not include metro systems).

This article was written after arriving in Hanoi to find out that services have been suspended or reduced.

The long-delayed North-South Express Railway

The most recent announcement for the proposed North-South Express Railway from Hanoi to Saigon was in August. It was reported that the Ministry of Transport will submit to the Politburo for consideration an investment policy for the construction of a North-South express rail link in September.

September has come and gone, and there has been no word on whether it was submitted, or whether there was meant to be a decision in September. Either way, there have been no updates about this.

One of the reasons I started making fact sheets was to keep track of every announcement, so this announcement has been added to the pile.

Suspended and reduced northern services

I arrived in Hanoi last week with the hope of riding one of the northern lines that isn’t part of the North-South line. Some of the lines were suspended during the pandemic, so I wanted to see what was operating.

I took the train from Haiphong to Hanoi, but I had already taken that train before, so I wanted a new experience.

The Hanoi-Dong Dang railway is the line that operates the Nanning-Hanoi service. There are no trains from China at the moment, so I can’t blame Vietnam for that. The line is not used for domestic services, though, so that is a wasted opportunity for a regional railway.

The Hanoi to Lao Cai service is operating again (for travel to Sapa), though it only runs overnight. There is usually a Yen Bai train service (which is halfway between Hanoi and Lao Cai), but that is not running at the moment either. The Yen Bai service used to run once a day. Yen Bai Province is famous for its terraced rice paddies, so it would make another good tourist route.

Vietnam’s inability to build new railways is best illustrated by the Hanoi-Ha Long line. The current service takes 6 hours and 45 minutes to travel 164 km. The railway is being upgraded, but so far, the project is nearly 20 years overdue. This service was also cancelled during the pandemic and has not restarted.

The Ha Long line is a logical line to develop, as Ha Long Bay is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Vietnam. Ha Long City is also going through a massive urban redevelopment, so it would make sense to have an efficient railway service to Hanoi.

The relocation of Hanoi Station

In addition to the suspended and reduced northern services, Hanoi Station will no longer be the terminal station for the North-South Railway. Instead, the service will use Ngoc Hoi Station to the south of the city. The current railway alignment will be replaced with Metro Line 1, so the station will be closed to allow for the construction of the metro.

While it would be practically impossible to run a future high-speed railway to the old station, it would be a shame for Hanoi to lose a central station that is actually in the central part of the city.

The eventual plan will be that the North-South express railway will terminate at Ngoc Hoi Station (about 12km south of central Hanoi) and passengers would then transfer to the metro system. The very real problem will be that it might take a decade to build the metro line (given the past performance of the Hanoi Metro construction), so there will be a decade of passengers getting off the train at Ngoc Hoi Station and then completing the journey by bus.

The closure of Hanoi Station will affect trains coming from the other direction from Haiphong as well. The Haiphong train is already running a reduced service to Hanoi Station, with most trains now terminating at Long Bien (1 stop before Hanoi). This station has a small platform, which I found out about as I jumped from the train to the walkway in the rain.

[The Haiphong to Hanoi train that terminates at Long Bien Station.]