Travellers shun trains for foreign cars

Fewer travellers are choosing to take the train these days, as the railway industry faces strong competition from more modern means of transportation, the Viet Nam Railway Corporation recently revealed.

Rail passengers travelling from Vinh to Hanoi. The number of rail passengers has decreases on average by 5-8 per cent annually since 2006.

According to the corporation, the mean number of passengers carried via railway decreased by an average of 5-8 per cent annually since 2006, especially on trains travelling between provinces.

The number of passengers in 2007 was down 1 per cent over the previous year. In the first quarter of this year the number was down 2 per cent over the same period last year.

As transportation trends are making sea, air, and road transport more attractive, the railway industry may fall into a crisis, as new highways and airline companies continue to blossom.

Vu Ta Tung, general director of the Sai Gon Railway Transport Co, said that trains have traditionally offered convenience and safety. However, these two advantages are now becoming more common in other transport means.

With more and more cars imported into the country, and the construction of new highways, passengers have a greater choice of convenient and safe travel methods, which was only available before by train.

With little investment in the railway sector's infrastructure, and as the worn-out trains continue to run, the railway sector will need to develop a long-term strategy for development.

With old-fashioned technology, Tung noted that they still require money to maintain the equipment.

To attract more passengers, Tung suggested that the different units of the Viet Nam Railway Corp need to fix their ticket  prices.

In 2008, the Viet Nam Railway Corp was hoping to achieve a year-on-year increase of least 10 per cent in revenue and 15 per cent in the number of passengers.