Tàu Halong Express: "đắp chiếu" chờ "an táng," Tô Tô, 8/11/2010, Báo Pháp Luật
baophapluat.vn/kinh-te/tau-halong-express-quotdap-chieuqu...
The former Seoul Metro carriages which became a luxury train in Việt Nam
In 2008, six 1.435m gauge former Seoul subway carriages were imported into Việt Nam and refurbished for use on the standard-gauge lines in the North
This story began on 9 May 2007, when Vietnam Railways signed an MOE with Seoul Metro (now Seoul Transportation Corporation) for the export to Việt Nam of life-expired first-generation EMU trailer carriages from Seoul Metro, plus maintenance and operation technology.
Built in the early 1980s by Daewoo Heavy Industries for Seoul Metro Lines 1-4, these 1.435m gauge EMU carriages had been withdrawn from operation in accordance with the terms of the Korean Railroad Act, which stipulated that rolling stock must be withdrawn from service after 25 years of operation. According to the Korean Maeil Business Newspaper, instead of selling them for scrap at just 4-5 million won per car, Seoul Metro managed to sell the unpowered trailer cars to Vietnam Railways for 150 million won per car.
For a better look at the original first-generation Seoul Metro trains watch the video 추억의 전동차 - 초저항, Oldest train of Seoul metro, 20-12-2017 by 잡덕아재 at www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9qLT1Y3ZOQ
On 25 July 2008, an initial six EMU trailer carriages were shipped from Incheon to Hải Phòng as part of the first 100% foreign-funded rail passenger service joint venture involving the Korean Dongrim Company.
After the carriages arrived in Việt Nam, Dongrim is reported to have paid the Transport Construction and Investment Consulting Joint Stock Company (Cty CP Tư vấn Đầu tư và Xây dựng, GTVT) to design the refurbished carriages at a cost of US$70.000 and then hired Gia Lâm Railway Works to convert them at a cost of US$300,000. The refurbished subway carriages incorporated comfortable seats, modern air-conditioning/heating, toilets and LCD/TV systems. One car was equipped with a bar/café. To put them in service, the Dongrim Company had to pay Vietnam Railways 20 million VNĐ for a locomotive to haul each train, plus staff salaries and many other costs.
Promoted as the "Ground Boeing" (“Boeing mặt đất”), the train of refurbished 1.435m gauge subway carriages entered service to great fanfare on the 30 April-1 May 2009 weekend, offering a daily service from Gia Lâm to Hạ Long Bay. Tickets were sold at US$15 for foreigners and US$5 for Vietnamese, the price including a shuttle bus to and from Hà Nội.
According to one source, the foreign investor relied on "unrealistic" passenger forecasts from previous research projects, with the expectation that more than 100,000 tourists would use the train each year. In fact, the six carriages were intended to be the first of a delivery of an eventual 54 refurbished metro carriages which Vietnam Railways would eventually deploy on various other tourist routes around the country.
This train did attract many tourists on its launch weekend. However, there were apparently many complaints about the standard of service - and particularly about the length of the journey. At that time, following the upgrading of National Road 18, the road journey to Hạ Long Bay was quick and convenient, taking just over two hours. However, the rather inappropriately named "Hạ Long Express" departed from Gia Lâm not Hà Nội and the slow and indirect rail journey from Gia Lâm to Hạ Long Bay via Kép took over five hours.
In subsequent weeks, passenger numbers declined significantly and on some occasions it was reported that the train was attracting no more than 3-4 passengers per journey. The "Hạ Long Express" ceased operation in early September 2009 and soon after that the parent company Dongrim Railway Transport Co., Ltd (Korea) faced bankruptcy. In subsequent years. the six carriages were acquired by VNR and placed in open store, gathering rust and enveloped by foliage.
Six years later, the old subway carriages were recovered from storage and refurbished again. On 29 May 2015, they became part of the ambitious new "High Quality" HDR3 Gia Lâm-Đồng Đăng service, which offered a twice daily return service and incorporated a free shuttle bus from Hà Nội and pick-up/drop-off services at Gia Lâm, Bắc Giang, Lạng Sơn and Đồng Đăng stations. This journey only took 3.5 hours, 2 hours less than the existing service and the trains were claimed to be "as luxurious as a 5-star hotel" - see the VTC14 video "Bên trong đoàn tàu chất lượng cao Hà Nội - Lạng Sơn" of 30 May 2015 www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4cgBzrcHB8
However, once again the train of ex-subway carriages failed to attract passengers. In September 2016, after just over a year in operation, they were once more withdrawn from service. The reasons given at that time were that every train was running at a loss of 20 million VND and maintenance of the former subway carriages had become increasingly difficult due to the lack of spare parts. Another contributing factor in the train's demise may have been that, at the time, the management of the company responsible for running the service - Hà Nội Railway Transport Company (Cty Vận tải đường sắt Hà Nội) - had just become embroiled in the scandal surrounding the attempt to import 160 second-hand Chinese carriages into Việt Nam.
The former subway carriages were subsequently dumped in a siding at Đồng Đăng Station. Their current whereabouts is unknown.
Tàu Halong Express: "đắp chiếu" chờ "an táng," Tô Tô, 8/11/2010, Báo Pháp Luật
baophapluat.vn/kinh-te/tau-halong-express-quotdap-chieuqu...
The former Seoul Metro carriages which became a luxury train in Việt Nam
In 2008, six 1.435m gauge former Seoul subway carriages were imported into Việt Nam and refurbished for use on the standard-gauge lines in the North
This story began on 9 May 2007, when Vietnam Railways signed an MOE with Seoul Metro (now Seoul Transportation Corporation) for the export to Việt Nam of life-expired first-generation EMU trailer carriages from Seoul Metro, plus maintenance and operation technology.
Built in the early 1980s by Daewoo Heavy Industries for Seoul Metro Lines 1-4, these 1.435m gauge EMU carriages had been withdrawn from operation in accordance with the terms of the Korean Railroad Act, which stipulated that rolling stock must be withdrawn from service after 25 years of operation. According to the Korean Maeil Business Newspaper, instead of selling them for scrap at just 4-5 million won per car, Seoul Metro managed to sell the unpowered trailer cars to Vietnam Railways for 150 million won per car.
For a better look at the original first-generation Seoul Metro trains watch the video 추억의 전동차 - 초저항, Oldest train of Seoul metro, 20-12-2017 by 잡덕아재 at www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9qLT1Y3ZOQ
On 25 July 2008, an initial six EMU trailer carriages were shipped from Incheon to Hải Phòng as part of the first 100% foreign-funded rail passenger service joint venture involving the Korean Dongrim Company.
After the carriages arrived in Việt Nam, Dongrim is reported to have paid the Transport Construction and Investment Consulting Joint Stock Company (Cty CP Tư vấn Đầu tư và Xây dựng, GTVT) to design the refurbished carriages at a cost of US$70.000 and then hired Gia Lâm Railway Works to convert them at a cost of US$300,000. The refurbished subway carriages incorporated comfortable seats, modern air-conditioning/heating, toilets and LCD/TV systems. One car was equipped with a bar/café. To put them in service, the Dongrim Company had to pay Vietnam Railways 20 million VNĐ for a locomotive to haul each train, plus staff salaries and many other costs.
Promoted as the "Ground Boeing" (“Boeing mặt đất”), the train of refurbished 1.435m gauge subway carriages entered service to great fanfare on the 30 April-1 May 2009 weekend, offering a daily service from Gia Lâm to Hạ Long Bay. Tickets were sold at US$15 for foreigners and US$5 for Vietnamese, the price including a shuttle bus to and from Hà Nội.
According to one source, the foreign investor relied on "unrealistic" passenger forecasts from previous research projects, with the expectation that more than 100,000 tourists would use the train each year. In fact, the six carriages were intended to be the first of a delivery of an eventual 54 refurbished metro carriages which Vietnam Railways would eventually deploy on various other tourist routes around the country.
This train did attract many tourists on its launch weekend. However, there were apparently many complaints about the standard of service - and particularly about the length of the journey. At that time, following the upgrading of National Road 18, the road journey to Hạ Long Bay was quick and convenient, taking just over two hours. However, the rather inappropriately named "Hạ Long Express" departed from Gia Lâm not Hà Nội and the slow and indirect rail journey from Gia Lâm to Hạ Long Bay via Kép took over five hours.
In subsequent weeks, passenger numbers declined significantly and on some occasions it was reported that the train was attracting no more than 3-4 passengers per journey. The "Hạ Long Express" ceased operation in early September 2009 and soon after that the parent company Dongrim Railway Transport Co., Ltd (Korea) faced bankruptcy. In subsequent years. the six carriages were acquired by VNR and placed in open store, gathering rust and enveloped by foliage.
Six years later, the old subway carriages were recovered from storage and refurbished again. On 29 May 2015, they became part of the ambitious new "High Quality" HDR3 Gia Lâm-Đồng Đăng service, which offered a twice daily return service and incorporated a free shuttle bus from Hà Nội and pick-up/drop-off services at Gia Lâm, Bắc Giang, Lạng Sơn and Đồng Đăng stations. This journey only took 3.5 hours, 2 hours less than the existing service and the trains were claimed to be "as luxurious as a 5-star hotel" - see the VTC14 video "Bên trong đoàn tàu chất lượng cao Hà Nội - Lạng Sơn" of 30 May 2015 www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4cgBzrcHB8
However, once again the train of ex-subway carriages failed to attract passengers. In September 2016, after just over a year in operation, they were once more withdrawn from service. The reasons given at that time were that every train was running at a loss of 20 million VND and maintenance of the former subway carriages had become increasingly difficult due to the lack of spare parts. Another contributing factor in the train's demise may have been that, at the time, the management of the company responsible for running the service - Hà Nội Railway Transport Company (Cty Vận tải đường sắt Hà Nội) - had just become embroiled in the scandal surrounding the attempt to import 160 second-hand Chinese carriages into Việt Nam.
The former subway carriages were subsequently dumped in a siding at Đồng Đăng Station. Their current whereabouts is unknown.