Trains for the Lunar New Year 2026 (Year of the Horse) are fully booked: Railway industry adds thousands of tickets for peak season.
The railway sector is adding 22 trains to the North and 11 trains to the South as tickets for many peak routes are already sold out. Ticket prices have increased by 5-10% to upgrade service quality.
The surge in demand for people returning home and traveling during the Lunar New Year holiday has resulted in many trains being fully booked, especially on the North-South route. To alleviate the pressure, the railway industry is implementing a plan to increase the number of trains and adjust ticket prices due to rising fuel costs and investments in improved services.
Adding thousands of seats on key routes in the North.
According to the railway sector, due to many Tet holiday trains being fully booked during peak days, especially on the North-South route, from February 14th to 22nd, the unit organized an additional 22 regional passenger trains. The routes being reinforced include Hanoi - Da Nang, Hanoi - Vinh, and Hanoi - Lao Cai, providing approximately 7,300 seats.
Specifically, on the Hanoi - Da Nang route, the railway will add train SE17 departing from Hanoi on the evening of February 13th and train SE18 departing from Da Nang on the afternoon of February 14th. For the Hanoi - Lao Cai route, SP1 trains will run extra evenings on February 17th, 18th, and 19th; in the opposite direction, train SP2 will run on the evening of February 20th to serve tourists traveling to Sa Pa.
The Hanoi-Vinh route, being a hub for a large number of workers and students, has been allocated the most additional services. Trains NA3, NA8, NA6, and NA4 will operate continuously from February 14th to 22nd. In addition, high-quality trains such as SE34, SE36, and SE38 will also be added on February 19th and 20th to alleviate congestion during daytime hours.
Southern market and transportation plan overview
In the southern region, 11 regional trains on the Saigon - Nha Trang, Saigon - Tam Ky, and Saigon - Da Nang routes have been added, providing approximately 5,500 additional seats. The transportation plan for the Lunar New Year 2026 (Year of the Horse) runs from February 3rd to March 8th (corresponding to the 16th day of the 12th lunar month to the 20th day of the 1st lunar month).
In total, the railway sector deployed 62 trains with 791 carriages, providing approximately 384,000 seats, an increase of about 7% compared to the previous year. As of January 21st, the total number of tickets sold reached approximately 248,000, equivalent to 73% of the previous year's output, with nearly 70% of transactions conducted online.
Rising ticket prices and airline support options.
Train ticket prices for this year's Tet holiday have increased by an average of 5-10% compared to normal days. The reason is attributed to increased fuel and input material costs, and the railway industry is carrying out renovations and upgrades to more than 100 passenger carriages.
On the Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi route, soft seat tickets cost around 2 million VND; sleeper tickets range from 3.4 million to 3.8 million VND per way during peak days. For shorter routes such as Ho Chi Minh City - Da Nang or Quy Nhon, prices range from a few hundred thousand to 3 million VND depending on the type of seat.
In parallel with the railway system, the Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority has requested the implementation of night flights at six local airports: Tho Xuan, Dong Hoi, Chu Lai, Phu Cat, Pleiku, and Tuy Hoa. Vietnam Airlines Group has provided more than 3.5 million seats, while Vietjet has also launched approximately 2.5 million domestic tickets to meet the increased travel demand of passengers.
