Rail tourism - a journey connecting heritage regions

With over 100 years of history, Vietnam Railways has accompanied many ups and downs of the nation's history. Entering a new stage of development, the mission of the railway industry is now not only a means of transportation, but also brings special experiences, helping visitors explore the natural beauty, culture and history of each land, becoming a journey to discover the beauty of the country's heritage.

“Da Lat Night Journey” a unique tourism product of the railway industry

Coming to Da Lat city, a place that tourists cannot miss in the journey to explore this land is Da Lat station - the starting point of the Da Lat-Trai Mat railway line with a length of 6.7km, the remaining part of the Thap Cham-Da Lat line 84km long, connecting Ninh Thuan province with Lam Dong, put into operation in 1932, built by the French.

This is the only unique cog railway in Vietnam and one of the two most beautiful cog railways in the world (along with the Swiss railway).

With a train journey of about 1 hour (30 minutes on the way there and 30 minutes on the way back), the train speed is slow, during the day, visitors can comfortably relax and admire the poetic beauty of Da Lat, and at night, the beauty of the flower city is extremely magical and different.

Da Lat station was built based on the idea of ​​Langbiang mountain.

The main building of Da Lat station is built with three stylized pyramidal roofs symbolizing the three peaks of Langbiang mountain, the middle peak has a large clock, the building was recognized as a special national monument by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2001.

Mr. Dang Hieu Dan, who has many years of experience in teaching in the railway field, said: "Along with Da Lat station with its mountain-shaped architecture and the communal house roof of the Central Highlands people, Thap Tram-Da Lat railway has a sawtooth-shaped track to be able to cross the mountain ranges. This project has a unique design similar to the railway line in Switzerland crossing the Alps."

Different from the bustling and crowded Da Lat, when coming to Trai Mat, visitors can feel the gentle, peaceful atmosphere with pine hills rustling in the wind, the poetic scenery captivates people.

Before boarding the train, visitors can freely visit and check-in at Da Lat station - a unique ancient architectural work inspired by the legendary Langbiang mountain and the traditional Central Highlands communal house roof or check-in at ancient train cars in Indochina style.

On "Da Lat Night Journey", in addition to enjoying music, visitors can also enjoy a dinner party upon request.

Tourists check in at Da Lat station. (Photo: NGOC TIEN)

Ms. Nguyen Thi Trang, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City, said: "The experience of the Da Lat-Trai Mat tourist train reminded me of a historical period. Listening to songs praising the poetic land of peach blossoms and enjoying unique cuisine gave me an interesting feeling."

Ms. Truong Thi Nhu Quynh, a tourist from Can Tho, said: "Da Lat Station is more than beautiful. I hope that services like this will continue to be experienced by many tourists to feel the beauty of their country."

Da Lat night journey is a tourism product that the railway industry has put into operation to continue to bring passengers new experiences, feel the beauty of Da Lat at night, contribute to diversifying services and developing local tourism.

Artists performing on the train "Da Lat Night Journey". (Photo: NGOC TIEN)

Ms. Tran Thi Vu Loan, Vice Chairwoman of the People's Committee of Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province said: "Da Lat Station is associated with a historical story, the train station system of Da Lat City is currently an attractive destination for domestic and foreign tourists. Therefore, this is the lever and premise contributing to the economic development of the city, in line with the policy of the Provincial Party Committee and the City Party Committee in developing high-quality tourism".

Train connecting central heritage

If "Da Lat Night Journey" allows visitors to visit Da Lat city by the only unique cog railway in Vietnam, the tourist train connecting Hue-Da Nang named "Connecting Central Heritage" helps visitors have more interesting experiences on the journey to visit and experience heritage destinations and tourist attractions in the central region.

The train "Connecting Central Heritage" was put into operation on March 26, 2024, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Thua Thien Hue. This is a transport business product combined with the exploitation of tourism, history and culture services.

With a travel time of about 3 hours, the train will take visitors through Hai Van Pass - known as "The most majestic pass in the world" to Da Nang - a city with many beautiful beaches.

Train number HD1 consists of 10 carriages, including 2 community carriages serving Hue cuisine and Hue folk songs. The two carriages are decorated by Vietnam Railways in the traditional style of ancient royal courts.

The train is equipped with soft, air-conditioned seats, placed next to the windows for visitors to enjoy the scenery along the railway line considered the most beautiful in Vietnam, connecting Hue-Da Nang.

Artists perform on the train "Connecting Central Heritage".

On this train, Hue singing artists will perform Nam Binh, Phu Luc, Co Ban… to serve tourists. Next to this carriage is the culinary carriage, with a series of Hue cakes and fruits such as: banh it, cha lua, nem Hue… along with drinks for tourists to freely choose on this heritage journey.

Mr. Nguyen Van Phuong, Chairman of the People's Committee of Thua Thien Hue province, emphasized that the launch of the Hue-Da Nang tourist train aims to add an interesting form of tourist transport to the exploitation, helping to strengthen the tourism connection between the two localities of Hue and Da Nang: "With this train, we hope that visitors to Hue and Da Nang will have an interesting experience on their journey to visit and experience heritage destinations and tourist attractions in the central region."

Mr. Do Van Hoan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Railway Transport Joint Stock Company, said: "Since the opening of the train connecting the central heritage (March 26, 2024), 225,037 passengers have been welcomed (including 33,075 foreign passengers); currently, the number of passengers experiencing this pair of trains is showing a very positive trend, with foreign passengers accounting for nearly 50% of the number of passengers.

The company is currently preparing to launch the Hoa Phuong Do train on the Hanoi-Hai Phong route on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Hai Phong city.

Railways do not belong to the railway industry alone but to the community and the country.

Mr. Dang Sy Manh, Chairman of the Board of Members of Vietnam Railways Corporation, said: "Putting into operation heritage connecting trains is one of the efforts to connect regions and promote tourism of localities. We believe that railways do not belong to the railway industry alone but to the community, to the people, to the locality, to the country, and even to all of humanity. Therefore, we must bring that value to serve the community, to serve the people, to serve the locality, to serve the country."

Mr. Vo Quang Lien Kha, Deputy General Director of Vietravel Tourism Company said: "Previously, the railway industry always thought that slow operation was a weakness of the industry, but in my opinion, it is a unique feature that makes the railway industry a means to help the industry experience culture".

Mr. Kha said: "Cooperation with the railway industry will bring tourists new and unique experiences. Together with the railway, we have come up with a long-term plan, not only for each route and each section, but also for the entire railway line from north to south, where there is a story of history everywhere and tourists will be taken on a journey to find cultural and historical values ​​through heritage train journeys."

Mr. Dang Sy Manh, Chairman of the Board of Members of Vietnam Railway Corporation.

Mr. Dang Sy Manh also said that the mission of the railway industry is to cooperate with localities and travel companies to bring passengers unique travel experiences, helping tourists experience the history and culture of each region, thereby promoting the image of the country and people of Vietnam to international friends.

"The function of the railway is not only to transport goods but also to transport passengers and combine tourism. Therefore, in the coming time, we have determined that we must effectively operate and exploit the existing railway line in parallel with the construction of a new railway line.

We are also aware of the bottlenecks that need to be removed in the railway infrastructure, which was built by the French in 1881 and has been there for 144 years, with single track, narrow gauge, rails with joints, many railway crossings, especially self-opening paths, and the risk of storms and floods... from these infrastructure bottlenecks, we have proposed many projects to renovate and upgrade to ensure safety and smoothness, in addition to investing in new, quality vehicles to serve tourists with meaningful experiences."

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/du-lich-duong-sat-hanh-trinh-ket-noi-cac-vung-di-san-248192.html