World Travel Guide

City Guide  - Ho Chi Minh City  - Rail
Rail

Duong Sat Vietnam (tel: (08) 843 6520), the Vietnamese railway company, has one major route in Vietnam from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi with minor routes linking Hanoi with northern towns. The route north from Ho Chi Minh City is picturesque but is the slowest form of transport with express services not living up to their name. Although in theory the Duong Sat Vietnam telephone number is for train information and ticket prices, being a state-owned company staff tend to be rather unhelpful. It is better to go to the station, located at 1 Nguyen Thong, District 3 (tel: (08) 846 8704), in person, or to a local travel agent for help. The station has very limited facilities other than the ticket desks and a small snack bar. As yet there are no rail passes available and it is advisable to book tickets as far in advance as possible, since seats and berths in soft class are limited. Soft class has seats with padding and four-berth cabins with thin mattresses, as opposed to hard class, which has wooden slatted seats and six-berth wooden berths.
Rail services:
The only route to Ho Chi Minh City is from Hanoi and the journey can take between 32 and 42 hours, depending on the number of stops. Trains can be seriously affected by flooding in the rainy season particularly in the centre of the country.
Transport to the city:
There is no bus service to the railway station so any journey should be made by taxi.



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