The railway system in Vietnam is owned and operated by the state-owned Vietnam Railways (). The principal route, the single track North-South Railway running between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, accounts for of the network's total length of . The national railway network uses mainly metre gauge, although there are several standard gauge and mixed gauge lines in the north of the country.
The first railways in Vietnam were established in the 1880s, with construction beginning in 1888; these included a tram running between the ports of Saigon and Cholon, and a regional rail line connecting Saigon with Mỹ Tho. Railway construction flourished soon afterwards, during the administration of Paul Doumer as Governor-General of French Indochina from 1897 to 1902. It was during this time that construction of the Yunnan–Vietnam and North–South railways began. Construction of the north–south line took over thirty years, finally ending in 1936, during which time other branch lines were also completed. Beginning in World War II, the entire rail network became a target of bombing attacks by a number of groups, including both North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese troops during the Vietnam War. Although the main lines—particularly the North–South line—were quickly restored and returned to service once conflict ended, many branch lines were abandoned and dismantled at their expense, their infrastructure used to replace damaged sections of the main lines, or sold as scrap.
With increased economic growth brought on by the Doi Moi reforms of the late 1980s, the railway system has entered a renewed phase of development. A number of major projects supported by official development assistance have been proposed or are currently underway, including a series of projects to improve bridge and railway safety on the North-South Railway line, connections to Cambodia and Laos, and the restoration of a number of defunct lines, including the Đà Lạt–Tháp Chàm railway first established in the 1930s. A high-speed rail link between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City has also been proposed, which would reduce journey length from 30 hours to around 6 hours. Laos has held a ceremony but construction remains stalled (2019) on a rail line to Lao Bao from Savannakhet, across from the Thai rail head to Bangkok. Two high-speed railway projects include the North-South Railway Express and the Ho Chi Minh City–Cần Thơ express railway.
Usage Rail transport remains relatively underused as a mode of transport in Vietnam. While road transport dominates the transport sector by far—accounting for 65% of freight moved as of 2006—rail transport accounted for only 4% of freight transportation in 2008, and 5% of passenger transportation, leading it to be considered the "least relevant" of all modes of transport in the European Union's 2010 Green Book on Vietnam.2010 Report on Vietnam ("Green Book"). European Union Economic and Commercial Counsellors. June 2010. According to reports by the Asian Development Bank, however, the rail transport is growing, and carving out a significant role for itself in long-distance bulk cargo transport.
The following table gives an overview of rail transport volume and traffic over the period from 1998 to 2011: Transport type 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 Freight volume (kt)Volume of freight by type of transport . General Statistics Office of Vietnam.4977.66258.27051.98873.69153.28481.18247.57861.57234.1 Freight traffic (Mt-km)Volume of freight traffic by type of transport . General Statistics Office of Vietnam.1369.01955.02391.52745.33446.64170.93864.53960.94098.5 Passenger volume (Mpeople)Volume of passengers carried by type of transport . General Statistics Office of Vietnam.9.79.810.812.911.611.311.111.211.9 Passenger traffic (Mpeople-km)Volume of passengers traffic by type of transport . General Statistics Office of Vietnam.2542.33199.93697.24376.34333.74560.44138.14377.94569.1
History
Colonial beginnings
Rail transport was introduced to Vietnam in the 1880s, supported by the French administration of Indochina. The earliest rail project to be completed was the Saigon–Cholon tramway, established in 1881 in what was then Cochinchina, operated by the Cochinchina Steam Tramway Company (SGTVC). After a month of operation, the Lieutenant Governor of Cochinchina noted that ridership had already reached two thousand passengers.Archives nationales d'outre-mer, carton 306, dossier U 50-3.Archives nationales d'outre-mer, carton 306, dossier U 50-1.Archives nationales d'outre-mer, carton 327. Construction of the first regional rail project, linking Saigon and Mỹ Tho, began in the same year, to be completed soon afterwards in 1885. The Saigon–Mỹ Tho line reduced travel time between the two cities from 12 hours to only 3 hours, and established a connection between Saigon and the shipping lanes of the Mekong Delta. The first railway in Tonkin, a gauge line connecting Lạng Sơn to Phu Lang Thuong (now known as Bắc Giang), was established in 1895.
Railway construction multiplied during the administration of Paul Doumer as Governor-General of French Indochina from 1897 to 1902. Doumer's predecessor, Jean Marie de Lanessan, had been convinced of the necessity of building railways to connect the different parts of Indochina, and had identified certain key routes that should be built as a matter of priority; among these, a route connecting Hanoi and Saigon, and another connecting Hanoi and Lào Cai.La Colonisation française en Indo-Chine. Jean Marie Antoine de Lanessan. 1895. In 1897, Doumer submitted an overarching proposal for railway development in Indochina, including plans for what would eventually become the Yunnan–Vietnam Railway and the North–South Railway. The French government approved the construction of the entire Yunnan line and several sections of the North–South line, approving a loan of 200 million francs within the following year. Work began swiftly thereafter, with the Phu Lang Thuong—Lạng Sơn line being upgraded and extended from Hanoi to the Chinese border at Dong Dang. The section between Gia Lâm and Đồng Đăng was inaugurated in July 1900Article "Inauguration du chemin de fer de Hanoi a las Porte de Chine" in 'L'Illustration 22 Septenbre 1900' but completion of gauge conversion of the remaining section and the first section of the Yunnan line between Hanoi and Haiphong were not completed until 1902.
The Hanoi–Haiphong railway was one leg of the Yunnan–Vietnam Railway, which had begun construction in 1900, and continued northward with the erection of Paul Doumer Bridge (now known as Long Bien Bridge) in 1902, the largest bridge in Southeast Asia at that time. Construction on the Yunnan line continued northwestward towards the border town of Lào Cai, opening in segments beginning in 1903; the entire Hanoi–Lào Cai line was finally opened in 1906. Finally, in 1910, the line was extended to its final destination of Kunming. Construction of the Yunnan line was an extremely difficult undertaking, incurring not only great expenditures but also a great loss of human life. At least 12,000 labourers died from malaria or accidents, 10,000 of these in the Nanxi River Valley alone.Potential railway world heritage sites in Asia and the Pacific. Robert Lee. University of Western Sydney, Macarthur. 11 February 2003.
Construction of the North–South Railway began in 1899, and lasted over thirty years, with individual sections completed serially: from 1899 to 1905, the Hanoi–Vinh section was laid down, followed by the Nha Trang–Saigon section from 1905 to 1913, then the Vinh–Huế section from 1913 to 1927, and finally, the remaining Huế–Nha Trang section from 1930 to 1936. On 2 October 1936, the entire Hanoi–Saigon link was formally put into full operation. The first journeys from end to end of the newly completed line, dubbed the Transindochinois, generally took about 60 hours, or two days and three nights.Hoàng Cơ Thụy. Việt sử khảo luận. Paris: Nam Á, 2002. p.1495. This decreased to about 40 hours by the late 1930s, with trains travelling at an average speed of .
Wartime
From the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, the railway into Yunnan served as a channel for arms shipments to the Chinese Kuomintang. French refusal to halt shipments of arms and other war-related goods to China through Tonkin eventually provoked the Invasion of French Indochina by Japanese forces in 1940. The Japanese used the railway system extensively during their occupation, inviting sabotage by the Viet Minh as well as airborne Allied bombing raids. The railways sustained considerable damage, including the destruction of bridges.L'Indochine française pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale , Jean-Philippe Liardet
Shortly after World War II ended, the First Indochina War began, and the Viet Minh's sabotage of the rail system continued, this time against the armies of the French Union. The French returned several sections of the railway to full operation, allowing trains to circulate freely from Saigon to Ninh Hoa, Saigon to Loc Ninh, Saigon to Mỹ Tho and Huế to Tourane (Da Nang) by the end of 1947. The sections lying between Nha Trang and Tourane and north of Huế were judged to be too insecure to be returned to service at the time.
Early in the conflict, the Viet Minh's sabotage attempts failed to seriously damage the French railways, and most trains circulated without much protection. Beginning in 1947, however, the Viet Minh began to use mines, with circulation slowing to a crawl as they became more and more powerful. In response, the French began using the armed armoured train La Rafale as both a cargo-carrier and a mobile surveillance unit.Le 5e Régiment du Génie d'hier et d'aujourd'hui : l'aventure des Sapeurs de chemins de fer, Lavauzelle, 1997, p. 73 In February 1951 the first Rafale was in service on the Saigon-Nha Trang section of the North–South line, manned by the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (French Foreign Legion). Use of the Rafale failed to deter the Viet Minh, however, who continued sabotaging the line, making off with its rails under cover of night and using them to create a -long clandestine rail network between Ninh Hoa and Da Nang, in a Viet Minh-controlled area. In 1954, following the signature of the Geneva Accords and the end of the First Indochina War, Vietnam—along with its railway system—was divided along the Bến Hải River in Quảng Trị Province.
Throughout the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese railway network—especially the North–South Railway—was a target of bombardments and sabotage by both North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese forces. In the South, American aid allowed the South Vietnamese government to reconstruct the main line between Saigon and Huế, and several branch lines were also completed. As reconstruction efforts advanced, however, bombardments and sabotage of the railways by the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese intensified, reducing the transportation capacity and effectiveness of the railway, and eventually forcing the abandonment of many large sections of the track. In 1964, Typhoons Joan and Iris, the worst to strike Vietnam in sixty-five years, damaged the railway system even further, restricting operations to five separated segments. A second reconstruction effort, assisted again by the U.S. government, began in December 1966, and progressed in those areas where security was re-established. The system reopened 340 kilometers of main line in areas where security was restored.