Trains in Vietnam

Trains in Vietnam for Your Journey? What’s Your Impression?

If you think that trains in Vietnam resemble a French or Japanese TGV, you’ll be disappointed.

If you imagine they’re similar to European trains from 100 years ago, that won’t be entirely accurate either, but you’re getting closer to reality!

In fact, Vietnam’s railway lines are already quite old, dating mostly back to the 1920s-1930s from the French Indochina era.

The carriages have maintained their somewhat basic appearance, but the cabins are increasingly modern and better equipped. This is to meet the growing demand of Vietnamese travelers for more comfortable compartments, as well as to accommodate the rising number of foreign tourists.

So, if you hope that a train journey in Vietnam will be a unique experience, our answer is “YES.” We can affirm this for the following reasons:

First of all, there are two main railway lines already being used in Vietnam: the line from Hanoi to Lao Cai in the mountainous Northwest and the trans-Vietnamese line Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City that crosses the country from north to south.

The latter makes stops in all the provinces along its route. Compared to Vietnamese highways that are modernizing at an impressive pace, the landscapes along the railway lines are more exotic, more varied, and more fascinating. Vietnamese trains don’t travel fast—averaging 50-60 km per hour—which is actually an advantage because it allows travelers to observe the passing landscape more deeply and peacefully.

Numerous stops at provincial stations will offer you scenes typical of everyday life: street vendors, old buildings or aged station gates, or simply seeing and hearing ordinary people, young or old, conversing or getting to know one another… unique scenes you won’t find with other forms of transportation! And the high level of safety is also a very convincing reason for your choice!

Second of all, if you have concerns about comfort, especially for a long journey, we can assure you there’s nothing to worry about.

You can indeed find, provided you book your ticket well in advance, very comfortable cabins: bunks with mattresses, called “soft” in local language, with air conditioning, towels, bottled water, and even small complimentary treats like sweets or fresh fruit! Cabin rental agencies now adapt their offerings with great flexibility to the highly varied demands of their clients.

For example, you could easily convert a four-bunk cabin for four passengers into a two-bunk cabin for a couple, naturally at a higher price!

Moreover, cabin categories, along with the increasingly numerous and competitive rental agencies, are becoming more and more varied. You have, for example, Livitrans carriages, those of Orient Express, Tulico Express Train, Royal Express Train… These carriages are all of good quality; however, there are differences between them, and naturally, prices vary as well. Victoria carriages are presented as one of the best categories, but are exclusively reserved for travelers who also book rooms at the namesake Victoria hotel chain. Furthermore, the other, smaller agencies are making great efforts to improve their services. At the level of station infrastructure and facilities, there has also been a significant effort in recent years to modernize equipment, especially the signaling and indication systems, which have been modernized and are now electronic in many stations.

What Are Vietnam’s Train Lines?

We now provide you with more detailed and practical information about the two main railway lines most frequently used by tourists in Vietnam.

The trans-Vietnamese line Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City and vice versa:

On average, a North-South journey and vice versa will take between 30 and 40 hours. There are departures every day. Trains SE1 and SE3 from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City and trains SE2 and SE4 from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi are the fastest (approximately 32 hours and 29 hours respectively). They stop in all the provinces along the railway line, including major tourist centers of the country such as Hue, Da Nang, Nha Trang…

The main classes on these trains are hard seat, soft seat, hard bunk, and soft bunk, each of which can be subdivided into several sub-classes. For budget options such as seats, reservations can be made one or two days before departure, but for higher classes such as soft seats or bunks, it’s better to book several days in advance or go through a travel agency. If your trip coincides with Vietnam’s traditional Tet holiday period, you will need to book your ticket several months in advance. In recent years, the network of sales and distribution of train tickets has developed well in the major cities and tourist centers of the country. In addition to direct ticket sales counters at station premises, there are numerous sales offices and online ticket sale websites. If you’re on an organized tour through an agency, they usually book your ticket for you. We present below some tables on major routes and ticket prices depending on different categories:

1. Train from Hanoi to Saigon

Currently, there are 03 express departures Hanoi-Saigon:

• Express Train SE1 (34.20 hours), departure from Hanoi at 19:00
• Express Train SE3 (29.30 hours), departure from Hanoi at 23:00
• Express Train SE5 (30.55 hours), departure from Hanoi at 12:25

We offer you two accommodation categories:

• Air-conditioned “hard” bunk cabin (without mattress): 6 bunks per cabin
• Air-conditioned soft bunk cabin (with mattress): 4 bunks per cabin

Please find below the fares and schedules for these trains:

Note:

• Train prices in USD are for a one-way ticket
• If you wish to book a private cabin, you’ll need to reserve all 4 bunks (if it’s a 4-bunk cabin) or all 6 bunks (if it’s a 6-bunk cabin).
• Ticket prices do not include meals.

2. Train from Hanoi to Hue, to Da Nang

Besides the SE1, SE3, and SE5 trains mentioned in section 1, there’s another departure to Hue: HN 1 at 20:10; and carriages from the private company Livitrans, which rents some government carriages: compartments for 4 people, clean, air-conditioned and equipped with good quality mattresses.

Additionally, there’s another departure from Vietnam Railway Society connecting Hanoi and Hue: HN 1

The Hanoi – Lao Cai Line

This line allows you to reach Sapa, a mountain town in the exotic mountainous Northwest whose surroundings are populated by ethnic minorities such as the H’Mong and Dao peoples.

This railway line, because it connects Hanoi with the very exotic Northwest in terms of cultural diversity and natural landscapes, is very popular. Trains are often crowded. While the advantage is the reduction of accommodation costs, the fact that these are night trains presents a disadvantage: you can’t see much, except when approaching Lao Cai or Hanoi in the morning with some rather original morning activities that present themselves to your eyes. Every evening there are several trains serving this line in both directions Hanoi-Lao Cai and Lao Cai-Hanoi between 19:00 and 21:30. Prices and categories vary widely and are becoming increasingly competitive thanks to numerous companies participating by renting carriages from the General Railway Society while modernizing them at the same time. These companies are quite numerous and offer fairly competitive prices. You can, for example, check these companies: Livitrans, Tulico, Orient Express, Victoria… Livitrans has its ticket counter in the main building of Hanoi station on Rue Le Duan. Victoria also has its own office near the main building of Hanoi station. Most of the other companies have their counters in the secondary building of this station facing Rue Tran Quy Cap. All of these companies have their own websites and thus offer online booking options.

We present in the list below the schedules and prices for Hanoi – Lao Cai trains and vice versa:

Hanoi – Lao Cai – Hanoi Train Fares

Hanoi – Lao Cai – Hanoi Train Schedules

Hanoi – Lao Cai

Lao Cai – Hanoi