The “Vietnam-Japan Friendship Train” left Hanoi station to Ho Chi Minh City at 7 pm on Wednesday, May 8, as part of activities to celebrate the Vietnam-Japan Friendship. Present on the memorable train are Chief Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Vietnam Tsumo Motonori, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Tanizaki Yasuaki, and leaders of the Transport Ministry and the Vietnam Railway Corporation. The SE1 from Hanoi railway station and the SE2 from Saigon station are named “The Vietnam-Japan Friendship Train”, which is scheduled to conduct 30 trips on the North-South railway from the date until September 23.

The train’s last journey will depart from the Saigon station on September 21, marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Japan Speaking at the ribbon cutting ceremony, Deputy Transport Minister Nguyen Ngoc Dong praised the establishment of the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Train, considering it as a lively symbol of the friendship between the two countries.

Dong said that Japan has been the leading sponsor for Vietnam’s socio-economic development, including the project to upgrade the North-South railway.

Over the past 20 years, Japan has helped Vietnam upgrade and replace 48 out of 63 railway bridges on the north-south route with a total cost of 45.1 billion JPY.

As a result of these supports, the travel time between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City has been reduced from 36 to 30 hours. It is expected that the time will be further cut down to 24 hours when the replacement of the remaining bridges is finished.