Thirteen luxury carriages invested in by China’s Jinxin Group have yet to be put into operation in Vietnam after five years of building.

Jinxin Group (Vietnam) Railway Equipment Development Co. Ltd. has proposed Vietnam Railways support it to remove difficulties so that the 13 rail cars can run on Vietnam’s railways soon, according to a source of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

The project to build the 13 carriages has lasted for five years, causing wastefulness.

Jinxin Group hired Gia Lam Train JSC in Hanoi and Di An Train JSC in Binh Duong Province in southern Vietnam to assemble eight and five carriages, respectively.

All equipment and accessories of these carriages were imported.

The 13 carriages cost over VND275 billion (US$11.2 million), according to Jinxin Group.

They were introduced at the 42nd ASEAN Railways Chief Executive Officers’ Conference in central Da Nang City in 2022.

Railway experts and train engineers told Tuoi Tre that enterprises have to draw up projects to import rail cars, assess their feasibility, and have the projects appraised by many agencies.

Since 2016, domestic railway companies have built new carriages themselves, putting an end to the import of rail cars.

However, local companies’ cooperation with foreign partners to develop new carriages and take responsibility for the effectiveness of their investment is worth applauding.

Nevertheless, they should study and made investments carefully.

Pursuant to Vietnam’s regulations, new carriages must be put into trial operation for 100,000 kilometers before getting a registration certificate.

Jinxin Group is not a rail transport service provider in Vietnam, so it cannot operate the new carriages on a trial basis.

Jinxin cooperated with Hanoi Railway Transport JSC to put the rail cars into trial operation in 2019 but they terminated their contract last year when the carriages had been operated for only 15,000 kilometers.

Jinxin has recently suggested Vietnam Railways join hands with Saigon Railway Transport JSC to put the carriages into operation on a route between Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang City under Khanh Hoa Province in south-central Vietnam.

However, Saigon Railway Transport JSC said the reception of these luxury rail cars was unfeasible and inefficient.

It has no ground to put the rail cars to use as the rail cars have yet to complete the trial operation for 100,000 kilometers and get an operation certificate.

If Saigon Railway Transport JSC receives the carriages, it will depend on Jinxin to have alternative equipment and accessories in the future.

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