Railways add more tricks to attract train passengers

Choose staff like… flight attendants

Having just returned from Da Nang to Hanoi by train SE20, Ms. Mai Trang (Phuc Dien, Bac Tu Liem district) said that after finishing work and being able to return home earlier than expected, she decided to experience the train.

"I was surprised to see how beautiful the train was. Sometimes, walking along the carriage, I saw the train staff communicating with foreign passengers just like on international flights," said Ms. Trang.

High quality train SE19/SE20 with selected staff, separate uniform.

Sharing about these changes, Mr. Huynh The Son, Deputy Head of Business Department, Hanoi Railway Transport Joint Stock Company said that these are refurbished train cars and are being tested on SE19/SE20 trains.

"The selected cars were all newly built in 2018 - 2019, of good quality, and brought to the workshop for further refurbishment. The service staff was re-selected, from the train captain, staff, and security guards, all of whom must be good-looking, skilled, experienced, and able to communicate in English," said Mr. Son.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Van, captain of SE19/SE20 train, shared that the selection requirements for the staff, including the captain, are quite strict. They must be good-looking, male from 1m62, female from 1m55 or older, not older than 45 years old, and must have experience and good work skills.

"We still do the same work as before, but with higher requirements and follow more meticulous working procedures. The ship must always be clean and have no ship smell. Every 40 minutes, there will be staff checking and collecting quality assessment votes," said Mr. Van, adding that although there is more pressure, the income has increased by about 20-30%.

Meanwhile, the Northern Railway Transport Branch (Saigon Railway Transport Joint Stock Company) is actively advertising cheap Quang Binh travel combos including train tickets and hotels.

"This is not a new tourism product. We have cooperated with travel agencies to provide tours during the peak summer season and achieved high efficiency. However, during the low season, the unit works directly with resorts to be able to reduce room rates and food services to the maximum.

We also apply the railway's train ticket discount policy to offer a cheap and attractive combo or package tour product," said the company representative, adding that there are combos of resort stays and round-trip train tickets on weekends for less than 3 million VND/person.

Sharing about new tourism products and services in the low season, Mr. Son said that during peak seasons such as Tet and summer, there are many Vietnamese tourists, but mainly customers looking for cheap tickets.

Meanwhile, from October onwards until the end of the first quarter of next year is the peak season for international visitors, many of whom want to experience the train. Vietnamese visitors who travel by train at this time are also those who want to experience and are willing to pay more. The unit's goal is to target this customer segment.

Revealing the cost of building the high-quality SE19/SE20 train at less than 5 billion VND, Mr. Son said that, in addition to the expectation of filling the train (about 300 passengers) during the low season, it also contributes to gradually building a better brand and image of railway passenger transport.

Create your own train, design a party on request

High quality sleeper train SE19/SE20 Hanoi - Da Nang.

Mr. Son said that not only building high-quality trains, the railway also creates its own trains with itineraries, carriages, and food services organized according to customer requests.

Recently, the railway organized a train to serve international tourists traveling from Ho Chi Minh City to the North, to Lao Cai, but stopping at each stop for sightseeing. The train served buffet, the menu also according to the request of the tourism unit.

For Vietnamese customers, the railway also targets units that need to organize travel for employees to avoid the summer peak, or organize events, seminars, conferences by train. The railway will provide the form of chartering the entire train (charter), the entire car at preferential prices, support the organization of picking up guests at the station, organizing parties on the train...

"With this form, we can immediately determine the revenue after signing the contract without having to worry about picking up individual customers or worrying about the train not being full," Mr. Son said, adding: For regular travelers, railways have difficulty competing with long-haul low-cost airlines and short-haul expressways. Therefore, railways are shifting, targeting tourists who want to experience the train.

This direction has initially brought about results. In the first 8 months of 2023, there were 838 million train passengers, equal to about 168% compared to the same period in 2022. Of which, SE19/SE20 trains reached more than 170,000 passengers; revenue of more than 94 billion VND. Charter trains, organized 12 groups running the routes Hanoi - Dong Hoi, Hanoi - Da Nang, Hanoi - Nha Trang, transporting nearly 5,000 tourists, earning more than 6.5 billion VND.

A representative of Saigon Railway Transport Joint Stock Company said that they have applied a ticket discount program for group passengers along with other incentives for travel agencies participating in the tourism stimulus program of 7 tourism associations of provinces and cities including: Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Ninh Thuan, Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, Da Nang. Particularly in the low season after the peak of the September 2nd holiday until the end of the year, ticket prices can be reduced by up to 30% depending on the number of passengers, train travel date, and transportation distance...

It is expected that in the first 9 months of 2023, the output will reach more than 2.1 million train passengers, equal to 125.6% compared to 2022, with revenue reaching more than 955 billion VND.

Mr. Hoang Ngoc Thanh, Director of Hoang Thanh Transport and Trading Services Co., Ltd., said that since 2016, the company has cooperated with the railway to provide VIP tourist train ticket services on Lotus train SE19/SE20 carriages on the Hanoi - Da Nang route. The main target customers are international visitors experiencing Vietnamese trains. Each private Lotus train has about 110 - 160 passengers. Compared to before the pandemic, the number has increased by 10 - 15%.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/duong-sat-them-nhieu-chieu-hut-khach-di-tau-192230921222224917.htm