The Reunification Express Haivenu

The Reunification Express

There is no railway network as such in Vietnam: trains travel from terminus to terminus along single-track lines. The most important route for visitors is the route between the main stations of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Various passenger trains travel backwards and forwards, but the fastest is the E1, also known as the ‘Reunification Express’, that completes the journey in approximately 30 hours stopping only at main stations en-route. The E1 leaves Hanoi at 11pm in the late evening every day, arriving at Ho Chi Minh City at 5am in the morning on the next but one day after departure and vice versa in the opposite direction. Departures are on time, arrivals less so.

The Reunification Express has four levels of accommodation:

• Hard chair: A fixed wooden seat in a large carriage
• Soft chair: A partially reclining set with vinyl-covered cushioning in a large carriage
• Hard sleeper: a bed in a six berth compartment with a fan and unglazed windows on to the corridor, each with a wrought iron screen for security. Each bunk consists of a flat board with a rice straw mat. Passengers are provided with a blanket and a small pillow.
• Soft sleeper: a bed in an air-conditioned four-berth compartment without windows on to the corridor. Each bunk has a foam mattress about 10cm thick, with white cotton sheets, pillowcase, and blanket, and an individual reading light.

Carriages with seats have no dedicated space for luggage – passengers must store their things under seats or on the small luggage racks. Passengers in sleeping compartments can stow their luggage under the bottom bunk, and in a space above the door. For day use, the second level bunk can be secured upright to create seating on the bottom bunk. There is a ‘squat’ toilet at the end of each carriage, and a separate washing room. Toilet paper is usually supplied, but sometimes runs out, but soap is seldom provided.Breakfast and main meals are included. The former is usually a large sweet bun. Main meals are served in a plastic container, consist of a small amount of meat or fish with a vegetable and rice, and are usually lukewarm at best. Trolleys ply the carriages selling drinks and snack food, including bread, cakes, confectionary, and so on.Return tickets are not available, and tickets cannot be bought to travel onwards from intermediary stations. However, Haivenu has agents in most towns that can purchase ticket locally for our customers to collect.Please note that trains are usually very crowded and noisy, particularly in the carriages with seats. Smoking is allowed in carriages, but not in sleeping compartments (although the unglazed windows in hard sleeper compartments mean that smoke from the corridor enters freely).

Vietnam Railways are currently upgrading both track and rolling stock on this route. New carriages with better facilities are entering service, but travellers would be wise to regard travelling in one of the new carriages as an unlikely possibility, not a probability.

The middle section of the journey, during the daylight hours, is close to the coast and offers good views of rocky promontories and sandy beaches, especially during the long haul over the Hai Van Pass. However, visitors to Vietnam who are unused to travel in a developing country may find it difficult to cope with the noise, cigarette smoke and lack of privacy in seat carriages and, to a lesser extent, the hard sleeper compartments. However, the soft-sleeper offers acceptable levels of comfort at a lower price than air travel.