Vietnam railway industry posts US$48 MLN in H1 turnover
HANOI - Vietnam's railway authorities tracked an industry turnover of VND724 billion
(US$48 million) in the first half of this year, representing an increase of 11.9 per cent from the same period last
year.
Officials attribute the growth to improved customer service, and revenue from transporting heavy cargo on long
routes.
In the first half of this year, 3.4 million tonnes of commodities were transported by rail, up by 13.3 per cent from
the same period last year.
The amount of chemical fertiliser transported by rail doubled
to 250,000 tonnes, representing the largest growth among the
major commodities.
Efforts to improve passenger services also gained speed
during the period. Around 3.3 million passengers took the
international train linking North Vietnam and China, a 50 per
cent increase from the same period last year.
About 5.5 million passengers boarded domestic trains in the
first six months of the year, a year-on-year increase of 0.4
per cent.
Despite this relatively small gain, the sector has become
increasingly competitive in the transport market, thanks to
numerous initiatives to improve services.
This year Vietnam Rail slashed the Hanoi-HCM City trip to 30 hours, down from 72 hours in 1976. It hopes that
the trip will take a mere 20 hours by 2020.
Customers are also enjoying the benefits of automated booking services, and reduced ticket prices for students
and employees on festival and summer holidays.
Railway authorities plan to introduce more express services on shorter routes in early 2003.
Vietnam Railway's improved performance comes after a sustained period of investment in the sector.
The World Bank, Japan and Germany have provided development loans to upgrade railway infrastructure.
These funds have been used to expand the rail gauge, repair bridges, upgrade locomotives, import new carriages,
and construct new terminals and tracks.
Railway authorities have ambitious plans to boost the sector's performance further during the next 20 years. They
hope that 20 per cent of passengers and 30 per cent of cargo will be transported by rail by 2020.
In order to meet these targets, an estimated VND23,530 billion (US$1.5 billion) will be needed to complete
infrastructure upgrades between 2001-2010.
A priority investment of VND2 trillion will be used to upgrade the railways in Central Vietnam, an area frequently
troubled by annual storms and flash floods.
Vietnam News Agency - July 03, 2002.
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