Who needs the Orient Express? Vietnam revives steam train travel

Recent visitors to Vietnam have likely marvelled at the newly-soaring skylines of capital Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon, the biggest urban area in what has been for two decades one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and a hub for the likes of Intel and Samsung.

But holidaymakers will soon be treated to a blast from the past, after two old steam trains were refurbished by engineers from state operator Vietnam Railways for commercial use in the centre of the 1,650-kilometer-long country.

Built in the 1960s, shortly after the end of French colonial rule and as the Vietnam War was intensifying, the locomotives are to be used from next year to run from Da Nang, Vietnam’s third city and site of a US military base during the war, to Hue, a UN-designated World Heritage Site due to its temples and palaces.

Called “Revolution Express“, the throwback train partly evokes the Communist Viet Cong, which seized control of the country after defeating the US in the mid-1970s.

The trains are to feature “retro-style” carriages reminicent of an Orient Express-style set from the “Poirot” detective stories.

Engineers worked on rebooting the engines for more than a decade, according to the team behind the venture, which is jointly-operated by Indochina Rail and Wafaifo Optimisers, a hospitality business.

Passengers are to be treated to not only to scenery such as bays, mountains and lagoons during the day-long trip, but also to “themed dining” during an hour-long stop at Lang Co, before the last stop at the refurbished train station in Hue, royal seat of imperial Vietnam prior to the French invasions of the 19th century.

Vietnam hosted over 18 million tourists in 2019, before the Covid border closures and lockdowns. Last year the number topped 12 million.