Sketch Corner: Hue Train Station

Located at 2 Bui Thi Xuan Street, near the center of Hue City (Thua Thien-Hue province), Hue train station is one of the most beautiful and oldest train stations in Vietnam (second only to Hanoi and Saigon stations).

Built and completed by the French in 1906, Hue Station was then called "Shooting School" Station (because it was formerly where Nguyen Dynasty soldiers practiced shooting). The station was located on the 171 km long Dong Ha - Da Nang railway line. (By 1936, this line gradually became part of the North-South railway line).

The back (facing the railway) of the former Hue train station - a sketch by architect Nguyen Khanh Vu.

Sketch by architect Bui Hoang Bao

Architects provide

Built in the style of European railway service architecture, Hue Station is a complex of buildings including a passenger and cargo terminal, a railway workshop, and offices…

Sketch by architect Phung The Huy

Sketch by architect Phung The Huy

Architects provide

Currently, Hue Station has retained almost its original architecture: the building is painted in a reddish-pink color (similar to Quoc Hoc High School); the arched doors are (believed) to be stylized from train carriages; the antique clock, over 100 years old, on the second floor of the station's facade is still working… In 2020, the main building of Hue Station was renovated (based on the original design) to serve as a ticket office, passenger reception area, and waiting area… (previously, this building was an administrative office).

Sketches by architect Linh Hoang

Sketches by architect Xuan Hong

Architects provide

Hue Railway Station has also become a part of Hue's folk songs and ballads, inspiring poets like Te Hanh (in the poem " School Holidays ") and Nguyen Binh (in the poems "Ngự Viên Village" and "Shadows of People on the Station Platform ").

In addition, Hue station also welcomed "King of Comedy" Charlie Chaplin, King Sihanouk of Cambodia, and three Vietnamese kings: Thanh Thai, Khai Dinh, and Bao Dai… (Regarding King Thanh Thai, just one year after personally cutting the ribbon to inaugurate Hue station, in 1907 he was arrested by the French and taken on a ship from this station to Vung Tau, and then exiled to Reunion Island).

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/goc-ky-hoa-ga-hue-185240224211328059.htm