Tried www.vr.com.vn/ and variants thereof but can't email Vietnam Railroads?

Question

I'm trying to get maps of the consumer train routes...I can get schedules off their web site, but can't get a map of the country or the railroad with a detail of the villages and communes to find out how to visit people I'm met.....Embassy no help either.

Answer 1

I had the same problem until I realized that Vietnam's rail system is pretty small and simple.

The main rail lines goes between Hanoi and Saigon pretty much along the coast with stops in most of the cities in between. From Hanoi, there are rail lines going to Hai Phoung and Lao Cai. From Lao Cai is a connection to cross the border where you can connect to other trains for travel through China. There are no east-west lines, but there will be soon. News from Vietnam today indicate the approval for rail lines connecting into Cambodia and Laos.

If you want to know more about the places that you will be visiting in Vietnam, you probably found as good of a place as any to ask. There are a few of us here who visit the country regularly, and there are some native Viets who frequent here too.  

Seek and you shall find...