Chairman of Vietnam Railways Corporation resigns.

Mr. Tran Ngoc Thanh has requested to resign and retire four years earlier than the current regulations.

According to sources from the Vietnam Railways Corporation, Mr. Tran Ngoc Thanh has submitted a resignation letter to the supervising ministry and the Corporation's Board of Members requesting to step down as Chairman and retire.

Mr. Tran Ngoc Thanh once shared his concerns about the railway industry's slow implementation of the level crossing barrier project. Photo: Xuan Hoa

Previously, since mid-October, the Ministry of Transport had planned to transfer and reassign Mr. Thanh to the position of Director - Deputy Head of the Ministry's Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue Committee. The person expected to be transferred to replace Mr. Thanh at the Vietnam Railways Corporation is Mr. Vu Anh Minh - Director of the Enterprise Management Department under the Ministry of Transport.

Speaking to VnExpress, Mr. Tran Ngoc Thanh said that his resignation at this time was to allow for the transfer of leadership responsibilities to a more suitable person. The Ministry of Transport has also planned to appoint a replacement, and he supports the organization's decision.

"I have made efforts to innovate the railway industry in the past. However, the new phase requires someone else to help the industry change for the better. I would like to step back," Mr. Thanh said. He declined to comment on his appointment as Director - Deputy Head of the Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue Department of the Ministry of Transport.

Mr. Tran Ngoc Thanh, born in 1960, was appointed Chairman of the Board of Members of the Vietnam Railways Corporation by the Ministry of Transport in April 2013. Prior to that, Mr. Thanh was the Director of the Transport Department, Ministry of Transport.

During his more than three years working at the Vietnam Railways Corporation, Mr. Thanh was recognized for his contributions to innovating production and business operations by implementing an electronic train ticketing system, improving the quality of service on some trains, and restructuring transportation operations.

However, the railway sector has also had many controversial projects, such as purchasing old trains from China; and investing in non-core businesses using land lease rights and assets attached to the land at 80 Ly Thuong Kiet and 22 Phan Boi Chau. These issues have been assessed as violations by the supervising Ministry and the Government Inspectorate, and a review of the enterprise's leadership has been requested.

According to VNE