Since the late 1880's some form of rail transport has operated in Vietnam, built and operated initially by the French, split into two systems after 1955 and re-unified after 1975.

This website is my attempt to bring together a whole lot of disparate information about trains and railways in Vietnam in English. It is a collection of historical information, data, images and personal research. There are still big gaps in my knowledge but they are slowly being filled. Perhaps some never will be. The upheaval that has occurred in Vietnam over the past 150 years means that sadly a lot of information has been lost and will never be recovered.

Secondly, because I do not speak or read Vietnamese except in the most rudimentary sense, I have to rely on others to translate and interpret texts written in the Vietnamese language.

This is not the easiest task in the world because as Vietnamese is not my first language I have to rely on English language data, 'Google' Translations and help from my partner.  The Google translations are often very odd so my apologies to those who wrote in the original Vietnamese. My French is better but also not brilliant and many older documents are in that language.

Surprisingly since I started in late 2009, I've collected quite a bit of data and quite a few photos, though there are many omissions.

I am particularly greatful to the members of the Vietnam Railways Forum (Dau May Xe Lua) who knowingly or unknowingly allowed me to access their site and use material. Without the forum this site would be much poorer. Unfortunately the Vietnam Railways Forum seems to have died an unnatural death quite a few years ago. I don't know why and I have yet to identify a replacement. If anyone knows of one please let me know.

Tim Doling's books and work have also provided impetus for my own work,

I apologize for any errors or omissions. They are all my own work. My wife and I have just returned from Vietnam , the first visit since 2018. We were supposed to go in subsequent years , but we all know why that didn't happen. Luckily we have been able to get back this year.

Please note that the magazine  "Re-Unification Express"  is currently in abeyance. Past issues are available to download on a separate page.

2019 to 2022 were hard years for many people around the world. Luckily, while having our fair share of problems, Australia and Vietnam have missed the worst of the pandemic. Hopefully we can all get back to some form of 'Normalcy" in 2023. As I recently celebrated my 72nd birthday I hope everyone will bear with me. It takes me a little longer to do anything these days.

I would also suggest those who are interested in railways in Vietnam might find Tim Doling's Facebook Page "Railways and Tramways of Vietnam" of great interest.

---