The Vietnamese railway company, Duong Sat Vietnam (tel: (08) 843 6528 (ticket prices) or 931 8952 (train information); website: www.vr.com.vn), operates one major route in Vietnam from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi with minor routes linking Hanoi with northern towns. The route north from Ho Chi Minh City is picturesque but is the slowest form of transport with express services not living up to their name. Although in theory the Duong Sat Vietnam telephone numbers are for train information and ticket prices, being a state-owned company staff tend to be rather unhelpful. It is better to go to the station, located at 1 Nguyen Thong, District 3 (tel: (08) 846 8704), in person, or to a local travel agent for help. Alternatively, a very useful telephone number is 1080 where English-speaking operators can also give information on timetables.

The railway station has very limited facilities other than the ticket desks and a small snack-bar. As yet there are no rail passes available and it is advisable to book tickets as far in advance as possible, since seats and berths in soft class are limited. Soft class has seats with padding and four-berth cabins with thin mattresses, as opposed to hard class, which has wooden slatted seats and six-berth wooden berths.

Rail services: The only route to Ho Chi Minh City is from Hanoi and the journey can take between 32 and 42 hours, depending on the number of stops. Trains can be seriously affected by flooding in the rainy season particularly in the centre of the country. There is a daily deluxe train service between Ho Chi Minh City and the beach resort of Nha Trang (tel: (08) 920 6868; website: www.5starexpress.com.vn) with comfortable sleeping berths, restaurant car and cinema.