Vietnam
Country Details
Name: Vietnam (Việt Nam), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Language: Vietnamese and English, or French among the older generation and those educated in the former South Vietnam
Currency: đồng (₫) (VND)
National Railway System
National Railway Operator
UIC code
Numeric 32; alpha VN
Timetable
Information is available at the Man in Seat 61.
Journey Planner
VNR website here. Note there are also many private websites offering journeys details including buses.
Downloadable Timetable
None but there is information on service levels 'Itinerary information' or by station list, the latter giving access to all calling points of each service.
Printed Timetable
None
Summary timetables are available as occasional supplements in the European Rail Timetable.
Engineering Information
None known
Maps
Printed Maps
None known
Web-based Maps
- Online: Raildiagram.com
- Railways Through Europe
- Seat 61 map of train routes in southeast Asia
- Wikipedia Commons
Ticketing
Through VNR website here. Machines with an English option are available at main stations. It is believed tickets are sold by quota allocations per station, so if from your preferred joining point is sold out, you may be successful by searching from an earlier calling point.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure Authority
None known
Network Statement
None known
Gauge
The majority of the network is metre gauge (3 feet 3 3⁄8 inches) .
The lines from Yên Viên (a container transhipment yard north of Hà Nội) to Thái Nguyên and Đồng Đăng (the border with China) are mixed gauge; only freight trains destined for China use the standard gauge. The line from [Yên Viên -] Kép to Hạ Long is only complete at standard gauge, [some unconnected sections are interlaced metre] but is out of use since Covid.
The Hà Nội and Ho Chi Minh City Metros are also standard gauge; 1435 mm (4 feet 8½ inches).
Electrification
For Metros ; 750 V d.c. third rail and overhead.
Rule of the road
Almost the entire network is single track.
Distances
No official information is available but they are quoted on Raildiagram.com
Other Railways
Formosa Ha Tinh Steel has an extensive private metre gauge network serving its Ha Tinh plant, and the now isolated Thai Nguyen Steel Works near Luu Xa has dual gauge tracks, but only the Standard remains in use.
Tourist Lines
From Đà Lạt running 6.5km to Trại Mát, a preserved section of the 84km line to Tháp Chàm on the Hà Nội - Sài Gòn main line but still operated by the VNR State Railway. Wiki site on the line history. No website details are known but the displayed timetable on a March 2025 visit confirmed just one pair is guaranteed to run departing Đà Lạt at 09:55, the other six at times ranging from 07:50 to 20:20 require a minimum of 20 tickets to be sold. A further on-line article.
Part of the National Network but a recognised tourist attraction is "Train Street" in Hà Nội. What is not so well known is there are two train streets, the more famous is used by trains to/from the north of Hà Nội main station, but trains to/from the south also have the same experience, albeit through a much less commercialised section. "Train Street" is a misnomer, as on both it is a single railway track with ballast, sleepers and rails above ground level running down a "street" with no road traffic, but with all buildings including numerous cafes, bars and restaurants very close to the track and passing trains. The northern train street is much busier and has been closed to pedestrians from time to time, with a March 2024 visit finding property owners self regulating tourists to keep visitors away from the track when trains are due, plus private security guards attempting to restrict access at the main access points. In March 2025 Police were preventing access to any bars/cafes on the northern one.
The ~2km Muong Hoa Funicular Railway opened 31 March 2018, which connects Sapa town to the Fansipan cable car departure terminal.
Metros
Hà Nội : The first 13 km of elevated line 2A from Cát Linh to Yên Nghĩa opened on 6 November 2021. This is part of a proposed 8 line network (see plan), the next section, which opened on 8 August 2024, is an 8 km elevated part of Line 3 from Cầu Giấy to Nhổn. The 4 km in tunnel onwards from Cầu Giấy via an interchange with current line 2A at Cát Linh to Hà Nội central station is planned to open by December 2027.
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) (Sài Gòn): 19.7 km of Line 1 between Ben Thanh in the city centre to Ben Xe Suol Tien opened on 22 December 2024. Many additional lines are planned with the 11.3 km Line 2 from Ben Thanh to Tham Luong under construction and scheduled to open by 2030. See Master plan of HCMC urban railways system or alternative website for master plan
Trams
None
Recent and Future Changes
Recent Changes
The one pair a day service on the Standard Gauge line from Yen Vien in the northern Hà Nội suburbs to Halong was suspended for Corona Virus and has not resumed.
Future Changes
A section of the current Sài Gòn - Hà Nội main line between Đà Nẵng and Vinh is being replaced by an approximately 3.5km tunnel cut-off. This will eliminate a horseshoe curve and close a scenic 5.5km section between [Đồng Hới -] just north of Kim Lũ and Đồng Chuối [- Hương Phố]. It is not shown on ORM but is on maps.me and in March 2025 the formation was intact at either end of the tunnel and the northern portal was complete. Its opening date is unknown.
In early December 2024 the National Assembly approved a government proposal to build the North-South Express Railway, a 1541 km high-speed line connecting Hà Nội with Ho Chi Minh City with construction starting in 2026 or 2027..
A Vietnamese and a Laotian company reported in March 2023 that they have the backing of their respective national governments for a study into the construction of a 555 km railway between the port of Vũng Áng and Vientiane, the capital of Laos.
Special Notes
None
Lines with Obscure or Sparse passenger services
See Vietnam - Lines with Obscure or Sparse passenger services.
