Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City railway line

Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City
Exit from Saigon train station
Route length:	~ 1726 km
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Dual track :	No
Legend Yunnan Railway Hà Nội – Gia Lam Long Biên Bridge 0 Hà Nội 5 Giáp Bát Hanoi bypass 9 Văn Điển Cau-Tien Luu-Phai Quan-Ganh 18th Thuong Tin Tem-Xa Pho-Tia 26th Cho Tia 30th Thu Xa Cho-So 34 Phu Xuyen Cau guot Cau-Gie 45 Dong Van Cau-Sao 56 Phủ Lý Dong-Xa 67 Binh Luc Yen-Dô 73 Cau Ho Le-Sa 81 Dang Xa 87 Nam Định 94 Trinh Xuyen 101 Nui Goi Ninh-Xa 108 Cat Dang 115 Ninh Bình 121 Cau yen 125 Ghenh 134 Dong Giao 142 Bỉm Sơn Câu-Cu 153 Do Len 161 Nghia Trang Ham-Rong Ma 176 Thanh Hoa Doi-Truong 188 Yen Thai 197 Minh Khoi 207 Thi Long 219 Van Trai 229 Khoa Truong 238 Truong Lam 245 Hoang Mai Hoang Mai 31 New Nghia Dan line in 1971 0 261 Cau Giat Song Thai 272 Yen Ly Dong-Thap 279 Cho Sy 284 Phu-Dien Nho-Lam 292 My Ly Do-Cam Cua Lo 309 Quan Hanh Quan-sen Quan-Ban 319 Vinh Truong-thi Ben-Thui 330 Yen Xuan Cả Cho-do Cho-Thuong 338 Duc Lac 345 Yen Trung 352 Yen Due 358 Hoa Duyet 370 Thanh Luyen 381 Chu Lé 386 Huong Pho Loc yen 398 Phuc Trach 405 La Khe 409 Tân Ấp Railway Tân Ằp – Thakhet 415 Dong Chuoi 426 Kim Lu 437 Dong Le 450 Ngoc Lam 453 Minh Cam 459 Lac Son 468 Le Son Lac-Giao 482 Minh Le Con 489 Ngan Son 499 Tho Loc 507 Bo-Trach 511 Phuc Tu 522 Đồng Hới 529 Vinh-Thuy 539 Long Đại Long Đại Xuan-Duc Dai-Phuoc My-Duc 551 My Duc 558 Phu Hoa 565 My trach 572 Thuong Lam 588 Sa lung 592 Vinh Thuy 599 Tien An Bến Hải (border 1954–1975) Kin-Mon 609 Ha Thanh Thạch Hãn 620 Đông Hà 634 Quang Tri 643 Dien Sanh 652 My chanh 660 Pho Trach 670 Hien Sy Song Bo 678 Văn Xá 684 To Hoa Perfume Flow 688 Huế 691 To Cuu 699 Huong Thuy 702 Phu Bai 708 Nong 715 Truoi 724 Since Bac 729 Cau Hai 732 Nuoc Ngot 742 Thua Luu 755 Lang Co 761 Hai Van Bac 766 Hai Van Hai Van Pass 772 Hai Van Nam 776 Lien Chieu Cu Đê Nam-O Hoa-my 788 Thanh Khe 791 Đà Nẵng Han Da Nang freight yard / port 794 Lien Tri 799 Phong Le Cam Le Duog-Son Dong quang Ky-Lam Thu-Bon Xuan-Dai 820 Chiem Son 825 Tra Kieu Phuoc Chi 842 Phu Cang Phu-Xuang-Phuong 857 To My 865 Tam Kỳ Tra-Ly Giem-Phô Nam-Van An-tan Tri-Binh 907 Phuoc-Thuan Dai-Loc Tho-Loc 928 Quảng Ngãi Phu-Nia Hoa-Vinh-Tay Lam-Diem Van-Tay Mò-Duc Tra-Cau Duc-Phô Thuy-Thach Dien-Truong 992 Sa-muynh Chuong-Hoa 1004 Tam-Quan Tai-Luong Moi-Duc 1017 Bong son Binh-Chuong Van Phu Binh-Duong Vinh-Phuoc Truong-Hoi 1049 Phu-My Binh-Tan Khan-Phuoc Cho-Gom My-hoa 1072 Phu-Cat Van-Son 1085 Binh-Dinh Van-My 1096 Diêu Trì Thuy-Phuoc Quy Nhơn Canh-Van Tanh-Vinh Quang-Hien Van Canh Muc-Tinh Phuoc Lanh 1154 La-Hai Ha-bang Phong-Vien Chi-Tanh Phu-Tanh My-Phu Hoa-Da Chinh-Nghia 1198 Tuy Hòa Đà Rằng Dong-tac Phu-Hiep Thach-Tuan Hao-san 1233 Dai-Lanh Tu-bong 1254 Gia Hoa-Huynh 1281 Ninh-hoa Phong Thanh Quan-Duoi Luong-Son 1315 Nha Trang Phu-Vinh Cay-Cay Suoi-Dau Hoa-tan Suoi-Cat Suoi-Mon Ba-Ngoi 1364 Nga-ba Trai-Ca Hiep-My Karom Barau Balap Tháp Chàm – Đà Lạt railway line 1408 Tháp Chàm Phu-Oui Hoa-Trinh Ca-Na Vinh-Hao 1466 Song-Long-Son Song Mao 1494 Chan-Hanh Song Lui Lang-Tanh Malam Phu-Hoi Phan Thiet 1551 Mương Man Suoi-Van Song-Phan Song Dinh Suoi-Kiet Gia-Huynh Tran Tao 1631 Giaray Bao-chanh Xuan-Lac An-Loc Construction Giay Construction approx Connection: forest and plantations Trang-Bom Long-Lac 1698 Biên Hòa Đồng Nai Ly-Hoa Chau-don Railway line Dĩ An – Lộc Ninh 1707 Dĩ An 1711 Sóng Thần Binh chain Saigon 1713 Thủ Đức 1718 Binh Trieu channel 1722 Gò Vấp Saigon (market) Saigon – Mỹ Tho railway line 1726 Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)

The Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City Railway ( North-South Railway ) ( Vietnamese : Đường sắt Bắc Nam or Đường sắt thống nhất ) crosses Vietnam from north to south over a distance of 1726 km and is the longest and most important railway line Vietnam. It is operated by the Vietnamese State Railways.

history

Development of the Vietnamese railway network from 1881 to 1966

Hanoi Railway Station Entrance Building 1912

prehistory

The line was built in sections during the French colonial rule between 1899 and 1936. Paul Doumer (1857–1932), Governor General of French Indochina since 1897 and later French President , presented an overall concept for a railway network for the colony . It included both the Yunnan Railway and the North-South Railway . This reflected historically grown economic relations that linked the southern Chinese province of Yunnan and Indochina . While the French government approved the construction of the Yunnan Railway, it initially only approved sections of the proposed Indochinese north-south railway , as it had to be financed from state funds. The Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Indochine (CFI) was founded for this purpose.

construction

Work on the north-south railway began in 1899 with the Hanoi– Vinh section , which was completed in 1905. Nha Trang- Saigon followed in two stages from 1905 to 1913. Two sections of the route starting from Huế were also tackled: the section to Da Nang (then: Tourane ) was opened in 1906, the section to Đông Hà in 1908. The construction progress was slow, as numerous engineering structures were required due to the topography and delays occurred again and again due to the First World War and the global economic crisis . The northern network and the lines around Huế were combined in 1927, the gap to the south was not closed until October 2, 1936. The line now existed under the name Transindochinois . Initially, through trains needed 60 hours for the entire route, but this was soon reduced to 40 hours. The trains carried dining and couchette cars .

In three wars

US troops repair the route

The Thanh Hóa Bridge, which was destroyed by a US attack in 1972

During World War II , the Vietnamese railroad was an important and heavily used infrastructure for the Japanese occupation. It was therefore also an important target for attacks by the Viet Minh and the US Air Force . The north-south railway , the central part of the Vietnamese railway network, was damaged or destroyed in many places. After the Second World War, the French colonial power tried to repair the damage. But this did not really work in view of the soon-to-break out Indochina War . The Viet Minh continued to carry out attacks on the railway line - now directed against the French army. From 1951 the railroad tried to counteract this with armored trains, Rafale , which of course did little to help with attacks on the infrastructure. Rails used to build the lines in the Viet Minh-controlled area between Ninh Hoa and Da Nang were also stolen on a large scale. The attacks culminated in attacks on the Rafale trains themselves in 1953 , when bridges were blown up under the train passing over them.

With the 1954 Geneva Convention , Vietnam was divided and with it the north-south railroad . The border between North Vietnam and South Vietnam ran here on the Hiền-Lương Bridge over the Bến Hải in the province of Quảng Trị . South Vietnam repaired the line between Saigon and Huế (1041 km) with US support in the late 1950s . But even in the Vietnam War that followed, the railway infrastructure was repeatedly damaged or destroyed by air strikes and sabotage . Between 1961 and 1964, the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong attacked the North -South Railway 795 times alone . For South Vietnam and the US Army , the route was important for supplies . The attacks, however, prevented the railway from being able to transport any significant amount of goods and, time and again, entire sections of the route could not be operated for long periods of time.

The US Air Force bombed railway systems in North Vietnam from 1965 to 1968 and then again from 1972, including the section of the north-south railway there , especially railway bridges, such as the Thanh Hóa railway and road bridge in the province of the same name. The US Navy also attacked the bridge several times and damaged it, which repeatedly interrupted traffic. However, the bridge was repeatedly repaired. It was only destroyed by laser- guided bombs in 1972 .

reunion

Route in Hanoi

After the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, Vietnam was reunified and the war ended. The railway line, which was now under the control of the North Vietnamese railway administration, was once again badly damaged. The repairs began immediately. Many of the 1,334 bridges, 27 tunnels, 158 stations and 1,370 points had to be repaired. This was only possible by temporarily closing down other railway lines and expanding material there. On December 31, 1976, the continuous operation from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, as Saigon was now called, was put into operation as a symbol of reunification. But it took until the 1990s for the performance of the 1930s to be reached again.

Infrastructure

Railroad crossing at Da Nang

Railroad workers at Da Nang

Station building in Nha Trang

The line is single-track and meter gauge. It connects the capital Hanoi with the metropolis of South Vietnam , Ho Chi Minh City (formerly: Saigon). The signaling on the route is connected to a route block , which is only partially automated. The route has 191 stations and stops , that is about 2/3 of all stations and stops in Vietnam.

There are 1,334 bridges on the route with a total length of 36 km, 63% of all railway bridges in the country. 278 of them are in need of considerable repairs. Some of the 27 tunnels along the route with a total length of 8,335 m have a considerable backlog of rehabilitation due to their age, the damage in the Second World War, the Indochina War and the Vietnam War and the long-term lack of capital. The route has 3,650 level crossings , of which around 3,000 (82%) have no barriers, no warning lights or security by railway attendants . The number of accidents here is considerable. In addition, the heavy monsoon rains that are common in the country repeatedly damage the route. It was not until the 1990s that Vietnamese politicians recognized the potential of the railway infrastructure and tried more and more to use resources to restore and improve it. Numerous slow speed areas with speed restrictions of up to 15 km / h and accidents were the result, especially derailments .

From 1994 to 2005, the bridges on the line were rehabilitated with Japanese support for more than 11 billion  yen (approx. 80 million euros ). Bridges with speed limits of 15 to 30 km / h were upgraded to 60 to 80 km / h. Through this measure and further renovations of the route, the travel time of continuous trains over the entire route could be reduced from 36 to 29 hours. In 2007 a further project was started to improve the infrastructure of the line, 44 bridges were to be renovated and some sections with a length of 37.6 km were to be re-routed. Efforts to remedy the deficits in the infrastructure continue to this day.

traffic

passenger traffic

Route at Mỹ Sơn

Train Hội An –Hanoi

The north-south railway provides 85% of the passenger volume of the Vietnamese railway. The trains are sometimes referred to as the "Reunification Express", although none of the trains officially carry this designation. This is a reminder that the railway connects the two parts of the country, North and South Vietnam , which had been separate for two decades . There are daily several express pairs , which connect the two end points of the track and only stop at major stations and passenger trains that also run on sections such as Hanoi- Vinh , Vinh- Dong Hoi , Vinh- Quy Nhon , and all intermediate stations operate. The travel time for the entire route is 30–35 hours for express trains and more than 40 hours for passenger trains. Due to the low level of comfort, the trains are also derisively referred to as “ TGV ”: Train à Grande Vibration. The train journey times have been drastically reduced since operations resumed at the end of 1976:

Travel time Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City

year	time	annotation
1977	66 hours
1988	58 hours
1999	32 hours

There are four car classes :

• "Soft Sleeper" (air-conditioned four-bed compartments)
• "Hard Sleeper" (six-bed compartments)
• "Soft Seat" (upholstered seats in the air-conditioned large area)
• "Hard Seat" (benches in the open space without air conditioning ).

In addition, there are tourist offers that are based on the “Soft Sleeper” category, but in terms of comfort - and price - go even further.

Freight transport

60% of the rail freight traffic in Vietnam takes place on the north-south railroad. Freight trains take around four days to cover the entire route. But there is also freight traffic that is only carried out over sections of the route.

Accidents

On March 17, 1982, a train from Nha Trang to Ho Chi Minh City in the province of Dong Nai derailed on an eight-kilometer gradient of 15 ‰ in a tight curve at an excessive speed of 100 km / h. The locomotive and eleven or twelve wagons derailed, overturned and ended up about 20 meters from the track. More than 200 people died, including both train drivers .

Ten years later, in 1992, the line was rebuilt at this point and the curve radius increased.

Projects

There were talks between the Vietnamese and Japanese governments and the railway industry to build a high-speed line with Japanese Shinkansen technology parallel to the existing north-south railway . According to estimates from 2010, this required 56 billion US dollars . The very high costs of such a project and doubts as to whether Vietnam could provide enough qualified personnel to operate such a route have stalled it. In 2010 the Vietnamese parliament spoke out against the plan drawn up at the time and demanded further investigations.

literature

• aha: Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City route. In: IBSE telegram. 318 (5/2017), p. 6.
• Frédéric Hulot: Les chemins de fer de la France d'outre-mer. Volume 1: l'Indochine, le Yunnan. La Regordane 1990.
• Nick Ray, Yu-Mei Balasingamchow, Iain Stewart: Vietnam. Lonely Planet 2009 ( books.google.com ).
• NN: Vietnamese Railway: Challenges Opportunities and Developement. In: OSJD Bulletin. 2/2018, pp. 1–11.
• Florian Schmidt: Vietnam. Railway between the Mekong and the Red River (= steam and travel / overseas railways. 6/1989).

Web links

• Homepage of the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport

Remarks

1. ↑ 1961 destroyed during the war and not rebuilt (Schmidt, p. 8).
2. ↑ After the unification, Saigon was renamed "Ho Chi Minh City", but the main station is still called "Saigon".
3. ↑ Loosely translated: "Train vibrates strongly".
4. ↑ The stated number of 800 deaths is likely to be far too high.
5. ↑ With numerous tips on traveling.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Schmidt, p. 9.
2. ↑ Proposed Loan and Administration of Loan from Agence Française de Développement: Yen Vien – Lao Cai Railway Upgrading Project ( Memento of June 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ). November 2006.
3. ↑ Amaury Lorin: "La civilization suit la locomotive": le credo ferroviaire de Paul Doumer, governor général de l'Indochine (1897–1902) . In: Revue d'histoire des chemins de fer 35 (2006), pp. 41–54.
4. ↑ Proposed Loan and Administration of Loan from Agence Française de Développement: Yen Vien – Lao Cai Railway Upgrading Project ( Memento of June 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ). November 2006.
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Hoàng Cơ Thụy: Việt sử khảo luận . Nam Á, 2002, p. 1495; Ray: Vietnam .
6. ^ NN: Indian Mail: International
7. ↑ Le 5th Regiment du Génie d'hier et d'aujourd'hui: l'aventure des Sapeurs de chemins de fer. Lavauzelle, 1997, p. 73;
   Alexis Neviaski: L'audace du rail: les trains blindés du Sud-Annam. ( Memento of the original from December 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Revue historique des armées. No. 234 (2004); Page of the archive of the French Ministry of Defense ECPAD ( Memento of the original of September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Another page of the archive of the French Ministry of Defense ECPAD ( Memento of the original of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 
    
    
8. ^ Page of the archive of the French Ministry of Defense ECPAD ( Memento of the original of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 
9. ^ Proposed Loan and Administration of Loan from Agence Française de Développement: Yen Vien – Lao Cai Railway Upgrading Project ( Memento of June 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) v. November 2006.
10. ^ Joseph M. Heiser, Jr .: Vietnam Studies: Logistic Support. Chapter 6 (1991).
11. ↑ Ronald Bruce Frankum: Like rolling thunder: the air war in Vietnam, 1964-1975 = Vietnam - America in the war years Bd. 3. 2005. ISBN 0-7425-4302-1
12. ^ NN: A Brief History of Dalat Railroad . 2007.
13. ^ Vietnam Railways: Network ( Memento from April 18, 2010 in the Internet Archive ).
14. ↑ Các ga trên tuyến đường sắt Thống Nhất (stations of the North-South Railway) ( Memento from January 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), p. 1 and P. 2 ( Memento of January 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive ).
15. ↑ Japan International Cooperation Agency: Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City Railway Bridge Rehabilitation Project .
16. ^ Proposed Loan and Administration of Loan from Agence Française de Développement: Yen Vien – Lao Cai Railway Upgrading Project ( Memento of June 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) v. November 2006.
17. ^ NN: Unsafe rail crossing kill 300 ( Memento from August 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive ); A. Maria Toyoda Report to JBIC on Expert Evaluation Mission to Northern Vietnam and the Philippines: Refocusing on Infrastructure v. 17th August 2007.
18. ↑ VOVNews: North-South railway reopens on October 28 ( Memento of October 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) v. October 28, 2010; Massive floods kill 26 in Vietnam; 9 missing v. October 5, 2010; Photo of the Day: Vietnam Floods Claim North-South Railway v. October 22, 2010.
19. ↑ Ministry of Economy, Industry and Labor of the French Republic: Evaluation of development activities - 2009/1  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . April 2009, Japan International Cooperation Agency: Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City Railway Bridge Rehabilitation Project .  
20. ↑ Proposed Loan and Administration of Loan from Agence Française de Développement: Yen Vien – Lao Cai Railway Upgrading Project ( Memento of the original dated June 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. v. November 2006. 
21. ↑ Japan International Cooperation Agency: Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City Railway Bridge Rehabilitation Project .
22. ^ NN: Vietnam to upgrade trunk route . In: International Railway Journal v. September 2005.
23. ↑ Japan International Cooperation Agency: Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City Railway Bridge Rehabilitation Project .
24. ↑ Japan International Cooperation Agency: Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City Railway Bridge Rehabilitation Project. 2007.
25. ^ The Man in Seat 61: Vietnam .
26. ↑ Vietnam Railways: Passenger Transport Business ( Memento from June 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ).
27. ↑ Vietnam Railways: Homepage ( Memento of the original from May 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 
28. ↑ Schmidt, p. 7.
29. ^ NN: Vietnamese Railway , p. 4.
30. ^ NN: Vietnamese Railway , p. 4.
31. ^ The man in seat 61 .
32. ↑ Japan International Cooperation Agency: Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City Railway Bridge Rehabilitation Project . 2007.
33. ↑ Vietnam Railways: Vận tải hàng hoá ( Memento from June 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (Cargo transport).
34. ^ NN: Minister of Transport should 'travel incognito' on railway. In: VietnamNet Bridge. from November 16, 2011.
35. ^ Forum of the Community of Lovers of the Vietnamese Railway System ( Memento of November 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ).
36. ↑ Associated Press: Vietnamese legislators reject $ 56B bullet train in rare move against Communist leaders ( Memento June 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). In: Metro News Vancouver v. June 21, 2010; NN: National Assembly rejects express railway project ( Memento from June 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). In: VietNamNet Bridge v. June 21, 2010.