Overnight Trains in Vietnam

[Long Train Runnin']

In January I will be in Vietnam for a few weeks, and was looking at taking a train from Saigon (Ho-Chi-Min City) to Da Nang has anyone here had any experiences on the Vietnamese national railroad? I will be traveling with a native speaker, so I'm not really worried to much about the language barrier. Just curious about food service, and what to expect.

 

[MrFSS]

In January I will be in Vietnam for a few weeks, and was looking at taking a train from Saigon (Ho-Chi-Min City) to Da Nang has anyone here had any experiences on the Vietnamese national railroad? I will be traveling with a native speaker, so I'm not really worried to much about the language barrier. Just curious about food service, and what to expect.

Here are some pictures of trains from there.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

More inofrmation: http://www.seat61.com/Vietnam.htm

 

[George Harris]

Here are some pictures of trains from there.

The pictures vary a lot in age and location. The bottom left and the middle in the row above must be close to the Chinese border. The diesel in the bottom corner is marked on the front for the China Railway, and the track has 3 rails. The middle picture in the row above has a track with three rail.

Vietnam Railways is one meter gauge. (3 feet, 3 3/8 inches) China Railways is standard. The steam engine has to go back quite a few years.

 

[Long Train Runnin']

I haven't had much to contribute to the forum recently I wish I was spending more time on trains then in front of school work, but hopefully I will get to change that in summer.

In January I had the chance to spend 2 weeks in Vietnam. I was really hoping to ride an overnight train during my time there, but the state airline was offering fares that made it difficult for to plead the case for a rail trip. Walk up domestic airfares the morning of travel were 19 bucks each way. Which made for some very interesting day trips flying out in the morning spending a day in a different region and then returning to Ho Chi Min City.

I did however get a chance to go to the train station in Downtown Saigon. For $0.20 I was able to purchase a platform ticket and roam freely around the "yard" at the southern terminus for Vietnam Railways. There I was able to view the interiors of the various classes. Here are some of the photos.

Entrance Hall and the only door out the tracks.

Main waiting room in the Saigon Railway Station.

Looking toward Hanoi on the platform.

Coach class car.

Sleeping Car. Hard Sleeper class with 6 bunks in each compartment. You could also book a Soft Sleeper with 4 bunks per room. The compartments didn't have a daytime configuration.

A few more pictures of rail related things. http://stephenmontero.smugmug.com/Trains/Vietnam-Rail/28854887_cmFFg9#!i=2451045543&k=mmnTg3n

The fares were pretty reasonable, but with airfares that low it was hard to make an argument to travel by rail while in Vietnam. I certainly think it would be a nice trip and I wouldn't worry about safety to much at all anywhere in Vietnam or on a long distance train.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

First, Long Train, I trust you had a great trip to Vietnam. Thanks for the interesting pics around the Saigon train station. The interior shots not so much; looks like your average neighborhood air terminal.

Off forum topic, what does the Vietnamese state airline fly? I mean, I figure it's not MiGs, but are they still using old Soviet Bloc stuff - like an Asian Aeroflot - or modern aircraft from other places?

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Off forum topic, what does the Vietnamese state airline fly? I mean, I figure it's not MiGs, but are they still using old Soviet Bloc stuff - like an Asian Aeroflot - or modern aircraft from other places?

Is this some sort of poorly worded joke or have you really been living under a rock for the last few decades?

 

[NS VIA Fan]

Mostly a Boeing and Airbus Fleet.

Long-haul '777s and '787s on order

http://www.vietnamairlines.com/wps/portal/en/site/flight_info/fleet_information

 

[Anderson]

Off forum topic, what does the Vietnamese state airline fly? I mean, I figure it's not MiGs, but are they still using old Soviet Bloc stuff - like an Asian Aeroflot - or modern aircraft from other places?

Is this some sort of poorly worded joke or have you really been living under a rock for the last few decades?

Considering how much old railroad equipment is still in use, and considering the financial state of third world airlines in some cases, I don't think it's terribly out of sorts to ask if a company like this is using old hand-me-downs or not.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Mostly a Boeing and Airbus Fleet.
Long-haul '777s and '787s on order

Thanks! Vietnam Airlines Tupolev Tu-134, 1992:

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Off forum topic, what does the Vietnamese state airline fly? I mean, I figure it's not MiGs, but are they still using old Soviet Bloc stuff - like an Asian Aeroflot - or modern aircraft from other places?

Is this some sort of poorly worded joke or have you really been living under a rock for the last few decades?

Considering how much old railroad equipment is still in use, and considering the financial state of third world airlines in some cases, I don't think it's terribly out of sorts to ask if a company like this is using old hand-me-downs or not.

OK, so tell me which "third world" passenger airlines operated MiG's. Ever. Show me a Tupolev Tu-134 in regular scheduled revenue service today. Anywhere. By your logic people in Vietnam should judge America's airlines by our 40 year old passenger rail system. It's just plane ignorant to think that way. Vietnam's economy has been growing my leaps and bounds for decades now. But I guess some folks have so little curiosity in the world around them that they can't be bothered to see past whatever they were forced to read in high school.

Thanks! Vietnam Airlines Tupolev Tu-134, 1992:

I suppose if 1992 ever comes around again you'll be an expert.

If anyone else is curious what has been going on in the last two decades there are lots of photos at this link...

http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?airlinesearch=Vietnam+Airlines

 

[chakk]

One of my sons unicycled across Vietnam (Hanoi, DaNang, Saigon) a few years ago as part of an international tour group. He found English spoken in most places by much of the younger population. And high-speed Internet cafes available in every small town.

 

[jis]

Mostly a Boeing and Airbus Fleet.
Long-haul '777s and '787s on order

Thanks! Vietnam Airlines Tupolev Tu-134, 1992:

Yes, and a United DC6B in 1967. What's the point? Just because Vietnam flew TU134s in the 90s means about as much as the fact that united flew DC6Bs in 1967, as far as their current fleet is cocnerned

Actually it could have been kind of fun if any airline operated a MiG 21 Bis trainer as a single passenger jet, coming to think of it. A littel cramped (having sat in a MiG cockpit during an NCC Air Wing visit to Chandigarh Air Force Base, I can vouch for that), need to put on special outfit, and no on board servcie. but hey at least you'd get there pretty fast

 

[DET63]

Off forum topic, what does the Vietnamese state airline fly? I mean, I figure it's not MiGs, but are they still using old Soviet Bloc stuff - like an Asian Aeroflot - or modern aircraft from other places?

Is this some sort of poorly worded joke or have you really been living under a rock for the last few decades?

It's a legitimate question. Note that the poster said he didn't think the Vietnamese were using MiGs, but asked whether they were using old Soviet-bloc stuff. Many airlines in Third World countries use or have used aircraft that are obsolete in the First World and even in the major former communist-bloc states like Russia.

Tonga, for example, has used a DC-3 for its domestic services in the past few years:

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Note that the poster said he didn't think the Vietnamese were using MiGs, but asked whether they were using old Soviet-bloc stuff. Many airlines in Third World countries use or have used aircraft that are obsolete in the First World and even in the major former communist-bloc states like Russia. Tonga, for example, has used a DC-3 for its domestic services in the past few years.

Third World? Communist-bloc? Your terminology and your thinking seem to be stuck in the 1950's.

 

[DET63]

Third World? Communist-bloc? Your terminology and your thinking seem to be stuck in the 1950's.

How so?

 

[Long Train Runnin']

With today being my last day here in Hanoi I made a quick trip over to the train station here in Hanoi. It was nothing like the station in Saigon (HCMC). It was really quite dirty and really showing its age. I know that it was hit by a bomb at some point during the war, but even its modern rebuilt section was rather drab. The station had a totally different feel to it then the one in Ho Chi Min City and was crawling with security. In HCMC I was able to purchase a platform ticket, and walk around without issue in Hanoi there was no such option, and I "snuck" on to one of the platforms before getting chased away by security. Anyway, here are the pictures.

I still haven't actually ridden any of these trains, but based on what I've heard from locals and other travelers it's not really an experience you want to repeat.

I will see why my pictures from HCMC are no longer showing up and fix the links.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Long Train Runnin']

Here are the 2 shots I managed on the platform before I got "busted"

 

[Bob Dylan]

Nice pics Steve! In a way it sort of reminds me of a bus station and India but not as crowded! (I haven't been in Hanoi)

 

[CHamilton]

Thanks for the pics! That "waitting room" looks way too much like some here in the US. Which is sad.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Why would an airline take their quality Russian built Tupulevs and ditch them for crappy Beoing and Airbus stuff?