During a recent meeting with the Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang, the Ambassador of the Republic of France to Vietnam, Olivier Brochet, stated that several renowned French fashion houses, including Louis Vuitton, wish to organize a luxury vintage train service between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to serve tourists.
These are vintage train carriages, in operation for 30 years or more, which Louis Vuitton will import into Vietnam. Therefore, Ambassador Olivier Brochet requested that the Ministry of Transport allow exceptions to current regulations so that these carriages can run on Vietnam's railway system.
Expressing strong support and agreement with this idea, Minister Nguyen Van Thang suggested that the French side should clearly state what exceptions are needed when using old train carriages. From there, the two sides can discuss and determine which agency has the authority to handle the matter, including the Ministry of Transport. If the matter exceeds the Ministry of Transport's authority, it will have to submit it to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision.
On the afternoon of November 24th, in an exchange with a VietNamNet reporter, a representative of the Vietnam Railway Authority also expressed strong support and agreement with the French side's initiative to organize a luxury vintage train service between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City for tourists.
However, a representative from the Railway Department stated that, according to Vietnamese law, businesses must meet certain conditions to conduct railway transport business on the national railway network.
Firstly, regarding the business conditions stipulated in Article 21 of Decree No. 65/2018/ND-CP, railway transport businesses must meet the following conditions:
There is a department responsible for railway transport safety.
There must be at least one person in charge of safety who has a university degree in railway transport and at least three years of direct experience in railway transport management and operation.
The person assigned primary responsibility for the technical management of transport operations must have a university degree and at least 3 years of experience working in railway transport operations.
Secondly, the trains must meet the service life requirements and import conditions for railway vehicles. This is specifically stipulated in Article 18 of Decree No. 65:
Not exceeding 40 years for locomotives and passenger carriages operating on main lines of national railways, specialized railways, and urban railways.
Not exceeding 45 years for freight cars operating on main national railway lines and dedicated railway lines.
For imported used railway vehicles, only passenger cars, locomotives, and urban railway cars that are no older than 10 years may be imported, and freight cars that are no older than 15 years may be imported.
The Railway Department further informed that, according to Vietnamese law, the organization and operation of trains on the national railway must be agreed upon by the national railway infrastructure business enterprise and the railway transport business enterprise.
Accordingly, any entity wishing to operate and manage the luxury vintage train service between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City must reach an agreement with the Vietnam Railways Corporation. This requires the approval of contracts for railway transport operation services and locomotive traction before the train can be operated on the national railway network.
"Therefore, to realize the above proposal, we request that the Ambassador of the Republic of France specify the exceptional conditions for using old trains. Based on that, the two sides will exchange views and clearly determine which agency has the authority to handle the matter, and then report to the competent authorities for consideration and decision," a representative of the Vietnam Railway Authority informed.
Reportedly, in the list of the 8 most beautiful railway routes in the world recently selected by the travel guide Lonely Planet, Vietnam's Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City railway line ranked first.
According to Lonely Planet, the 1,730km Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City railway line is one of the most popular railway routes in Southeast Asia.
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