The line in numbers
| Figure | |
|---|---|
| Length, Hanoi to Saigon | 1,726 km |
| End to end journey | About 30 hours |
| Track gauge | 1,000 mm, metre gauge |
| Stations on the line | 191 of Vietnam’s 278, as of 2005 |
| Hai Van tunnels | km 761, km 766, km 772 |
Disclosure: VietSIM sells prepaid eSIMs for Vietnam. We have no interest in how you travel, only in whether your phone works while you do.
What the name means
The trains between Hanoi and Saigon are widely called the Reunification Express, but no train officially carries the name. Departure boards show numbers, a ticket shows a number, and the staff will not recognise the English phrase. It is a useful name for a journey and a useless one at a ticket window.
What it describes is real enough: a single metre gauge line, 1,726 km long, running the whole length of the country, with 191 of Vietnam’s 278 stations strung along it.
Riding it in legs
Thirty hours in one sitting is a thing some people want to have done. Most travellers get more out of splitting the line:
- Hue to Da Nang. Under three hours, and the finest stretch on the network.
- Da Nang to Nha Trang. An overnight that replaces a hotel night.
- Hanoi to Lao Cai. For Sapa, run by private carriages attached to the service.
- Nha Trang to Saigon. A daylight run through the south’s flat farmland.
Classes, honestly
A four berth soft sleeper gives you a door that closes, a small table under the window and a bed. Six berth compartments cost less and feel it, with the upper berths short on headroom. Soft seats are fine for a daytime leg and tiring after dark. Bring a layer: the air conditioning in a sleeper is not gentle.
Booking
Vietnam Railways sells online through its own site, which also carries the timetable and fares. If the payment page refuses your card, Baolau covers the same journeys and accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, JCB and UnionPay, plus Google Pay, Apple Pay and Alipay.
Where the rails do not go, the bus does. Sapa, Da Lat, Mui Ne and Phong Nha are all bus country, and the sleeper coach is covered in sleeper buses in Vietnam.
The Hai Van stretch
Between Hue and Da Nang the line climbs onto the flank of the Hai Van pass and runs through three tunnels, at km 761, 766 and 772. Between them the track hangs above the sea with the highway far overhead. Take that leg in daylight, sit on the sea side, and put the phone away for an hour.
Mobile coverage along the corridor is good enough to work from, with gaps in the tunnels and the deeper cuttings. If you plan to do anything online on board, size the plan in how much mobile data for Vietnam and buy it in the Vietnam eSIM store.