Passengers to enjoy better service, lower price with Vietnamese railway in 2018

(VNF) - Passengers who travel by train during Lunar New Year (Tet) will enjoy better service, thanks to the recent installation of 30 new anti-vibration and noise-protective train carriages.

The aisles are spacious and the floor is covered with a layer imported from France, which is able to resist fire and protect the train from noise. (source: laodong.vn)

The new carriages will run on the South railway and on additional routes, Hà Nội-Huế, Hà Nội-Vinh and Hà Nội-Lào Cai.

The carriage’s furniture is made up of composite materials, which have high endurance towards fire and are dust resistant. The aisles are spacious and the floor is covered with a layer imported from France, which is able to resist fire and protect the train from noise.

In addition, old blankets, sheets and pillows on board were replaced and restrooms were renovated to ensure hygiene for passengers.

At the same time, car floors were built with anti-noise aluminum and the walls inside the trains were replaced with new materials to minimize noise.

In each carriage, air conditioners are installed for each seat and luggage shelves.

Every seat has a socket to charge electronic devices, a foldable TV under the luggage shelves and a reading lamp.

Each carriage bed is furnished with a mattress imported from South Korea and reading lamp as well as a USB charger. (source: laodong.vn)

Meanwhile, a big shelf is installed in the front of the carriage for heavy luggage.

Each carriage bed is furnished with a mattress imported from South Korea and reading lamp as well as a USB charger.

The launch of the new carriages is part of a series of measures applied by the Vietnam Railways to improve its service quality, starting from January 2018, in which, besides the renovation of trains and stations, VNR will focus on providing training courses for railway staffs in airlines schools.

In addition to improvement in terms of infrastructures and staff, VNR will also run a pilot onboard free meal programme, to be applied in 6 SE trains on North – South route, starting from January 10. (There are two types of trains: SE and TN. The SE trains are more suitable for tourists thanks to its modern carriages and facilities and faster speed).

According to the pilot programme, during the day and depend on timing, passengers will be provided a main dish (with value up to VND 35,000 per person, and a side dish (with value up to 25,000 VND per person).

The main dish includes rice with pork, fish or egg, or fried rice, fried noodle; each dish is served with soup, fruit and drinks. The side dish included steamed bun dumpling cake (Banh bao), sticky rice, kimbap and drinks. The menu will take into consideration culture of each province, and also serve meal for vegetarians.

In particular, each meal is designed to ensure sufficient nutrition balancing between each dish: protein (pork, fish), vitamin and minerals (vegetable).

Currently, meals are taken into train in each stop: Saigon Station, Hanoi Station and Danang Station. Each meal is packaged in accordance with airline standard, with stamp for use for 1 day only and the meals are heated before served. On the other hand, due to longer duration of traveling (compared to air carrier), meal provided to passengers on train will be increased in quantity.

Previously, Vietnam Railways stopped providing meal in 2007 not only because of low demand from passengers, but also to increase turnover per ticket. However, despite efforts from the railway sectors, the number of passengers choosing railway is decreasing, due to the fierce competition with low-cost air carrier.

As such, it is necessary to attract more passenger to railway system, instead of maximizing profit on each passenger.

Vietnam's railway operators have been taking measures in recent months to win back passengers. The first half of the year saw 23 new coaches and 63 refurbished coaches put into use. Operators have also offered a number of promotions including 50 percent discounts and random VND10,000 ($0.44) tickets for passengers who use its electronic booking system.

To better serve the travel demands during the Tet holiday, VNR has upgraded hundreds of carriages, newly built and put into operation 60 modern train carriages, in total.

Furthermore, restaurant cars have also been introduced on new first-class trips along popular routes.

At the same time, VNR will continues to offer special promotional program for people under preferential treatment policy, including Vietnamese heroic mothers, children with disabilities, disabled people, war veterans, wounded soldiers, the elderly./.

( VNF )