The above street is located on the border of 3 wards: Dien Bien (Ba Dinh district), Cua Nam, Hang Bong (Hoan Kiem district), so the management coordination is still inadequate. Taking advantage of this, the coffee shop owners along the railway have found every way to bring customers inside, ignoring the ban.

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Train street cafes are crowded again despite the ban. Photo: Cong Huan

“The awareness of people living in the railway area and tourists is still poor, leading to the fact that despite warnings, people and tourists still deliberately violate the law, especially when the police force withdraws the checkpoint,” informed the leader of Dien Bien Ward Police.

Dien Bien Ward Police conducted an investigation of households living in the railway area (No. 5 Tran Phu and No. 10A Dien Bien Phu) and found that there were some households in the area that did not hang business signs or register their business but sold drinks to foreign tourists so they could sit and take pictures, or collaborated with coffee shops in Cua Nam and Hang Bong wards to lend space for customers to sit in front of their houses.

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On the afternoon of November 22, the functional forces of Hang Bong ward inspected coffee shops on Tong Duy Tan street. Photo: N. Huyen

In the railway area of ​​Hang Bong ward, there are 8 households selling coffee and drinks. In the railway area of ​​Cua Nam ward, there is 1 household selling coffee and drinks.

"In particular, there are 2 exits and entrances to houses at 3 Tran Phu (Hang Bong ward) and 8 Dien Bien Phu (Cua Nam ward). People also lead foreign tourists through their houses to enter the railway area, leading to ineffective control of the checkpoints at both ends," the leader of Dien Bien ward police informed.

Faced with this situation, the police of the wards recommended that the Department of Tourism advise foreign tourists not to visit and take photos in the inner-city railway area because it is not safe.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Minh, Vice Chairman of Dien Bien Ward People's Committee, said that he had made many recommendations to various sectors and levels about this issue but it had not been thoroughly resolved. Mr. Minh hoped that the competent authority would proceed with moving the railway out of the inner city.

“In case this inner-city railway cannot be abandoned, it is necessary to evacuate households located within the unsafe area, at least 5.4m from the railway.

In reality, within 2.5 - 3m of residential areas, this cannot be guaranteed, because the main road for these households is next to the railway," said Mr. Minh.

The leaders of Dien Bien Ward Police proposed that Vietnam Railway Corporation be responsible for managing and protecting infrastructure and railway traffic safety corridors according to Decree 56/2018; Decree 14/2015; Decree 120/1963.

Previously, at the end of 2023, the Hanoi Railway Exploitation Branch of Vietnam Railway Corporation also sent a document requesting the People's Committees of Hoan Kiem and Ba Dinh districts to deploy comprehensive solutions to ensure security, order and safety of railway traffic, and avoid the recurrence of the situation of tourists and people traveling in the railway corridor area.

Hanoi's train street coffee shop is crowded again, Western tourists climb the fence to take pictures . In mid-November, the weather in Hanoi is cool and chilly, so Phung Hung train street coffee shop is bustling with customers coming to drink. Many customers even climb the fence to take pictures.