What's new about the "5-star" train Saigon

On April 27, Vietnam Railways Corporation held a launching ceremony for the high-quality train SE21/22 (Saigon - Da Nang). Train SE21/22 is a new product with many utilities and aesthetics to be put into operation, serving the travel needs of people during the peak summer season of 2024 and is expected to become a "hot" tourism product for visitors.

Passengers take the high-quality train to Da Nang station. Photo: THANH LAN

Mr. Thai Van Truyen, General Director of Saigon Railway Transport Joint Stock Company, said that after a period of being affected by Covid-19, since the beginning of 2022, the demand for passenger travel by rail has gradually recovered. The company has organized tours, research, and surveys to evaluate the quality of the unit's branded trains, as well as the SE19/20 train of Hanoi Railway Transport Joint Stock Company - a new high-quality product. From there, it was decided to choose the SE22/21 train pair on the Saigon - Da Nang route to invest in upgrading it into a high-quality transport service product with a new brand and appearance.

To put SE22/21 into operation, the company selected 26 passenger cars currently in use as cars in the 2016-2019 new construction project. The interior and exterior of the two trains were designed with many advantages such as expanding the space of the toilet compartment, replacing equipment in the toilet compartment and washing compartment; repainting the car body according to the new design, refurbishing the beds, composite walls and ceilings, gluing the walls inside the living room, dining compartment... The dining car was designed, re-installed with interior and placed in the middle of the train for the convenience of passengers at both ends, reducing travel time and creating space for passengers on the train. This is one of the first two trains (including the Hue - Da Nang train "Central Heritage Connection Journey" and SE21/22) to have wifi installed on the train for free for passengers. On this occasion, the railway industry also invested in renovating, refurbishing and putting into operation VIP waiting rooms to serve train passengers at Saigon and Da Nang stations.

Ms. Tran Thi Quyen (Lien Chieu district) said that as one of the first passengers of the train, she was satisfied with the service style as well as the equipment on the train. Sharing the same opinion, Mr. Pham Bao Khanh (a passenger) said that the highlight of the train is the carriages painted in white, gray and blue with the main image of the crane on the Dong Son bronze drum, a symbol associated with Vietnamese culture. All sleeper cars are 2-bed or 4-bed compartments, 6-bed compartments are not used. The dining carriage is located in the middle of the train for the convenience of passengers moving around...

Mr. Hoang Gia Khanh, General Director of Vietnam Railway Corporation, said that the high-quality train SE21/22 is the passenger train with the best quality carriages selected by the corporation to upgrade and renovate with many modern features, put into operation for the first time to serve passengers. The launch of the train SE21/SE22 is one of the new products in the chain of products and services that the railway industry has been, is and will continue to deploy in the coming time to bring passengers interesting experiences on their journeys; contributing to connecting tourism, developing the economy - society, and regional culture.

It is known that the SE21/SE22 train pair will run daily on the Saigon - Da Nang route and vice versa. Train SE22 departs from Saigon station at 11:00 and arrives at Da Nang station at 6:05 the next day; while train SE21 departs from Da Nang station at 8:15 and arrives at Saigon station at 4:15 the next day. The fare for the entire route is about 500,000 VND for a seat and about 900,000 VND for a sleeper (price depends on time and seat type).

THANH LAN

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