The Vietnam Railways (VNR) has asked competent authorities for permission to increase passenger trains on the Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh route from April 16.

Illustrative image (Photo: Internet)

Accordingly, from April 16 to April 22, an additional pair of passenger trains are set to operate on the route, bringing the total to two pairs. From April 23 to April 29, two more pairs will be added to the fleet.

From April 30 onwards, Hanoi-HCM City passenger trains will run as usual. However, railway transport companies will base on the demand and train capacity to make suitable transport plans.

Earlier, following the Prime Minister’s Directive No.16 on national social distancing, trans-national passenger trains were suspended from March 30 until April 15 to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

During the period, the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City train route operated with two trips per day at most.