Hanoi Railway Attendant Station and a memorable summer of transportation

With such a high increase in passenger volume and difficulties in recruiting new workers, Hanoi Railway Attendant Station has to "struggle" to complete the assigned tasks.

“With the basic completion of 270 shifts (including 90 additional train shifts), the team of officers, train captains, and attendants at the Hanoi Railway Attendant Station   just had an unforgettable summer. Most importantly, the Hanoi Station staff created beautiful images in the eyes of train passengers" - Deputy General Director Nguyen Hong Linh commented. In the first 9 months of 2024, Vietnam Railways Corporation transported 5.762 million passengers and 2.24 billion passengers, up 22.6% and 18.1% respectively over the same period. With such a high increase in passenger volume, in the difficult conditions of recruiting new workers, Hanoi Railway Station attendants were able to complete the assigned tasks and have a memorable summer!

Last summer, Hanoi Railway Attendant Station completed 270 shifts (of which 90 were additional train shifts). Photo: TA

The unthinkable Mr. Dao Viet Thang, Station Manager of Hanoi Railway Attendant Station, said: With 442 workers, including about 20 people reinforced from other branches, the Station had to take on 5 SE1/2, SE5/6, SE9/10, SE 19/20 and on weekends, SE17/QB4. During the Summer transportation campaign, many train crews had to arrange 1 attendant to be in charge of 3 cars (normally 2 cars) and there was no one to take a break. Even the SE10/SE9; SE12/SE11 crews had to rotate 2 consecutive rounds before they could go down to the shift, for the SE1/2 crews, some people had to go 5.5 shifts/month (the norm is 3.5 shifts/month). In addition, during the past summer, the Station still had to arrange 16 train leaders for 12 freight trains on the route. This is the period when Hanoi Railway Joint Stock Company (HARACO) is having many positive changes in the transportation business, regularly adding more trains according to market demand. HARACO's business department proactively grasps the situation to proactively add more trains and add more cars. This makes the arrangement of the Hanoi Railway Attendant Station's crew more difficult, because the personnel working on the train must be trained, have a practice certificate and cannot be used as ordinary labor. Many people have to spend more than 10 days on the train to see their families, spouses, and children. More than ever, this is the time when the Union and the profession must coordinate to grasp the circumstances of each staff, encourage and arrange reasonable shifts, ensure physical recovery during peak days, and 100% of the passengers take the train. In cases where brothers and sisters are sick, the Union and Station leaders all visit and encourage them. This helps workers feel cared for, more attached to the unit, and united to overcome current difficulties. For sanitation and food service on the train, the leaders of the Flight Attendant Group and the Train Station coordinate to consider and calculate in detail to match the ground and train departments, and the train departments. Technical problems along the way are promptly updated by the Station, coordinated with the Preparation Workshop, Mechanical and Refrigeration Workshop of the Cargo Wagon Branch to make timely preparations. The commendable point of the train crews is their proactive handling of situations that arise during the service process. When encountering problems with air conditioning, food on the train or lack of toilet water, the Train Captain and flight attendants meet with passengers, share difficulties, are willing to admit mistakes and find ways to fix them, so the rate of passengers complaining about the quality of service on the train this summer has decreased, while the number of compliments from passengers has increased. When there was an accident and had to be transferred, the brothers and sisters working on the train did not mind the late night, rain and wind, actively supporting the elderly, women and children for many consecutive days. This made the image of the station and train more and more friendly to passengers, contributing to an increase in transportation revenue of 18.5% over the same period. The company's leaders have repeatedly commended the train crews for proactively providing free meals and drinking water to passengers when there was a technical problem with the air conditioner or generator. Kind-hearted hosts In 2023, the railway returned cash, foreign currency and property to passengers who left them behind on the train many times, worth more than 1 billion VND, of which the Hanoi Railway Attendant Station received nearly 600 million VND. This year, the staff of the Hanoi Railway Attendant Station will continue to promote this tradition. During the recent summer transportation season, many crew members continued to "score points" in the hearts of passengers by personally handing over large sums of money and property.

Make a record of returning foreign currency to the business. Photo: TA.

Typically, the SE1 train crew (train captain Ha Van Tinh) departing from Hanoi on June 4, 2024 discovered and returned to passenger Tran Thi Thu Nguyet in carriage 11 452 USD and 9.75 million VND; The SE12 train crew departing from Saigon on August 23, 2024 (train captain Nguyen Cong Thien) discovered that passenger Nguyen Thi Hoang Oanh forgot 01 wallet containing 23.7 million VND, 01 gold-colored metal bracelet; 02 earrings and 01 necklace, and made a record of the handover to Tuy Hoa station to return to the passenger. Train SE6 departed from SG on August 10, 2024, with Mr. Le Xuan Hong as the train captain, and also handed over a suitcase containing 8 million VND to Dong Hoi station to return to the passenger who left it behind... In the first 9 months of 2024, the train crews of the Hanoi Railway Attendants Branch inspected and discovered 104 cases of passengers leaving their belongings, luggage, and property on the train; with total assets: 143,000,000 VND in cash, 1,821 USD, nearly 1,000 Euros, 45 electronic devices (including phones, watches, laptops, tablets) and many other valuable assets. All of the above assets were recorded by the train crew to be returned to the passenger or handed over to the station to be returned to the passenger.

Over the past 9 months, the image of stations and trains has become more and more friendly to passengers, contributing to an increase in transport revenue of 18.5% over the same period. Photo AT

Deputy Director, Chairman of the Hanoi Railway Attendant Union Phan Hai Cuong proudly said: to improve the quality of service on the train as directed by the Company's leaders, the Hanoi Railway Attendant Station still has a lot of work to do, but the achievements of the brothers in the recent Summer transport period must be recognized. It is very rare that the workload increases by 50% in such a long time, but the brothers and sisters of the train crew still make efforts to avoid any major unfortunate incidents. Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/tram-tiep-vien-duong-sat-ha-noi-va-mot-mua-he-van-tai-dang-nho.html