International Railroad Discussion > China - Vietnam

Hello everybody,
starting May 27 the passenger train from Hanoi, Vietnam to Nanning, China has been reinstated. It leaves from Gia Lam station on the outskirts of Hanoi. As before this is an overnight trip with stops in Dong Dang, and Pingxiang for customs processing. The numbers for the trains are MR 1/T8702 northbound, T8701/MR 2 southbound. The schedule to be found on the internet varies a little according to the website looked up. Maybe I can verify the actual schedule in the coming days.
Cheers
kbs651

Perhaps with Chinese businessmen switching over to cheaper labor in Vietnam, there are business trips and Chinese training  Vietnamese?

Victor Baird

Hello Victor,

sorry for the tardy reply. It took me a few days before I made to the station. Train MR1 leaves Gia Lam (pronounced something like Sa Lam) 2120, arriving in Nanning the next day at 1005. MR2 leaves Nanning at 1805, arriving Gia Lam(Hanoi) at 530. Customs and immigration is in Dong Dang and Pingxiang in the wee hours of the day respectively.
I took some pictures of the train in Gia Lam. Try as I might I have no idea how to upload them from the mobile device. However, passengers seemed to be mostly Chinese. There was also one European person who seemed to be out of place. He was checking the Chinese timetable in the station, until he realized what he was actually looking at. There were two young Vietnamese railfans, who were about to take the train to the border station. It seems that a number of Vietnamese railfans is now around. When I first visited it was close to zero.
I do know that the Chinese are shifting production to Vietnam because China is getting too expensive. But I have no idea about the particulars. Too, from past experience I do not trust Chinese manufacturing very much. This might be true for Vietnam also. A German manufacturer of model trains used to or still operates a factory in Vietnam. Quality control at one point was an issue. I do not really follow this so I am not aware of the details.

Cheers

kbs651

Posted from iPhone

Thanks for your reply Can you send the images on your phone to your computer via your email? If you can do that, you can send them to Trainorders. Just download them on your computer hard drive after you get them. Then attach them to your TO post.

Victor Baird



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/25 20:14 by wabash2800.

Hello Victor,
sorry I am not even close to my computer. I took a few pictures with the real camera. Maybe I can upload the pictures in a couple of months time. I will stay in Vietnam for the time being.
Cheers
kbs651

Posted from iPhone