According to the Hanoi Railway Transport JSC, revenue during the Tet festival increased by 6% year-on-year to a historic high of VND187.6 billion (US$7.6 million).

Passengers looking for travel information at Hanoi station. Photo: Nhat Thinh/The Hanoi Times

During the festival, which lasted from January 26 to February 26, the company served a ridership of over 368,000, an annual growth of 4%.

The company sees the results as a great achievement in a highly competitive transportation landscape with a wide range of transportation options such as inter-provincial sleeper buses, airplanes and rental cars.

These results are attributed to Hanoi Railway Transport's efforts to maintain and repair its trains to ensure that all carriages are fully functional, increase the total number of carriages to 288, and operate 16 north-south trains per day.

During the busiest days of the Tet (Lunar New Year) period, the company launched 322 north-south trains and another 224 trains connecting Hanoi with other provinces and cities.

In addition, the railway company offered promotions and discounts for passengers purchasing long-distance tickets, such as a 3-5% discount for individuals traveling more than 1,000 km and a 5-10% discount for those traveling shorter distances.

The company applied a fare discount package of 2-13% for traveling groups of more than 20 passengers, while students of universities, colleges and vocational training centers enjoyed a 20% discount.

In 2023, through promotions and discounts and combining train transportation with other tourism products, Hanoi Railway Transport recorded a total revenue of VND2.5 trillion ($101.5 million), up 6% year-on-year.

The company launched new services in 2023, including the Hanoi-Haiphong food tour, which attracted nearly 1.5 million passengers and generated VND110 billion ($4.5 million) in revenue. The figures were up by more than a third from the previous year.

Meanwhile, the high-quality trains between Hanoi and the central coastal city of Danang carried more than 227,000 passengers and generated more than VND110 billion ($4.5 million) in revenue.