Why Travel by Train?
Vietnam trains are safe, comfortable and cheap. Relatedly, the bus is comfortable, cheap but more accidental.
The lines were built by the French but have not been modernized since. Which also means that the train is slow and the journey can be long, very long…
Hoi An does not have a train station, but the town is only 30 km by bus or taxi from Danang. There are also trains from Hanoi to Haiphong (for Halong Bay) and from Hanoi to Lao Cai (for Sapa).
The different categories of train in Vietnam
In Vietnam, you must arrive 30 minutes before the departure of your train. It’s the rule here and if you don’t want to miss your train, I advise you to follow it. Unlike the SNCF, the trains leave on time…
Train ranges by number:
SE1, SE2, SE3, SE4: Sleeper train and air-conditioned. The best trains, with comfortable seats and air-conditioned compartments soft (4-berth) and hard (6-berth) seats.
SE3 and SE4 trains were fitted with smartly refurbished carriages in January 2015, SE1 and SE2 trains received similar refurbished carriages in 2016.
SE5, SE6: sleeper train and air-conditioned. Soft seats and hard seats (4 berths)
Trains SE5 and SE6 were re-equipped with refurbished carriages in January 2016.
SE7, SE8: operates only during peak hours. Soft seats and hard seats (4 berths)
How to buy tickets at the station?
It is easy to buy train tickets at the station when you arrive in Vietnam. Trains are busy, but with the exception of peak times such as Tet, if you book for a day or two you will usually find tickets available. Reservations were computerized in 2002, and you can buy tickets for most train journeys in Vietnam at train stations in Saigon and Hanoi. So, for example, you can buy a Saigon-Hue ticket and a Hue – Hanoi ticket in Saigon.
However, in other stations such as Hue, Danang or Nha Trang, you will only be able to book trips from the station you are at. At the counters you pay in Vietnamese Dong, US dollars are generally not accepted, nor are non-Vietnamese credit cards.
Trick: If you have internet access such as hotel WiFi, see for yourself, go to the Vietnam Railways website (www.dsvn.vn). Then book online, by selecting the option “Collect and pay for your tickets at the station within 24 hours. You can then choose an exact seat and this avoids long conversations at the ticket counter. It also avoids paying more.
How to buy train tickets online and where?
The DSVN of the Vietnamese SNCF (for Duong Sat Vietnam = Vietnamese railways – www.dsvn.com) is available but there are a lot of problems with international cards which are refused.
Be careful of scams like vietnam-railway.com and vietnamrailsway.com which are not official DSVN sites but travel agencies.
1) 12GO.ASIA
Website: 12Go.Asia
12Go.Asia provides an excellent service for booking train tickets in Thailand and Malaysia and now they sell train tickets for Vietnam too. They indicate “live” availability of places and berths, booking confirmation is instant and international credit cards are accepted.
The agency charges the official Vietnam Railways price plus about 60,000 dong ($2.70) service fee per ticket plus about 4% of the price (maybe $3 per ticket for Hanoi-Hue, for example ) for online credit card payment.
You can now click on an option to choose exactly which seats or berths from a seating plan, to ensure you’re all in one compartment together.
You will receive an e-ticket by email that you can print or keep on your smartphone to display on board the train. Now it’s very easy, because for regular Vietnamese trains there is no need to collect tickets or send them anywhere, just show your e-ticket!
By default, they group everyone in your group in the same compartment, unless this is not possible if, for example, there are only a handful of seats left on the train.
2) BAO LAU
Site: baolau.com
Bao Lau, train and bus reservation agency offers easy online booking in English, with international credit cards accepted. The availability displayed by Baolau is ‘live’ and places are instantly confirmed. In most cases, you simply print your own tickets.
Baolau’s system now allows you to choose your exact seats or berths from a chart. Baolau charges the official Vietnam Railways price + 40,000 dong ($1.80) service fee per ticket + 2.7% of the price (maybe $1.40 per ticket for Hanoi-Hue, for example) for online credit card payment. You will receive an e-ticket by email that you can print or keep on your smartphone to display on board the train. Now it’s very easy, because for regular Vietnamese trains there is no need to collect tickets or send them anywhere, just show your e-ticket.
The Reunification Line…
Trains between Hanoi and Saigon are sometimes called the Reunification Express by tour guides and tourism agencies, but no trains officially bear this name. The line was completed by the French in 1936, and trains ran from Hanoi to Saigon until 1954, when Vietnam was divided into north and south and the railway was cut.
The trains resumed on December 31, 1976, unifying the country again. You too can easily travel the entire length of Vietnam.
Some useful Vietnamese words:
Ngòi or Ghé = seat
Năm or Giuòng = berth.
Mèm = Soft seat
Cúng = Hard seat
Dieu Hòa (ÐH) = air-conditioned.
Ga = Station
K6 = 6-seater hard sleeper compartment
K4 = soft sleeper compartment with 4 positions
K = khoang = compartment
Toan vé = Full price (adult price without reduction)
