A century of Vinh City's 'railway'

North-South railway transportation hub

Recounted in the memoirs of Indochina,Paul DoumerA document dated March 22, 1897, concerning the program of activities of the new Governor-General of Indochina (1897-1902), stated: When he took office, “the problem of building a complete railway system was not yet solved. Nothing, or almost nothing, had been built, and no overall plan had been drawn up.” Indochina only had a narrow-gauge railway line from Phu Lang Thuong to Lang Son with a 60cm gauge, serving to supply the French army. The line from Saigon to My Tho was only crudely constructed with an incomplete system of bridges and culverts. According to the Governor-General of Indochina: “The task to be completed in the field of railways is very arduous but worthy of attention because of its feasibility, since we have in hand everything necessary for implementation.”

King Bảo Đại signs the minutes of the inauguration of the Indochina railway line. Photo: State Archives and Records Administration.

Having assumed the position of Governor-General of Indochina in February 1897, and after less than a year in office, Paul Doumer presented to the French National Assembly a large-scale railway construction program in Indochina, which was passed by law on December 25, 1898. Due to budget constraints, this law allowed the colonial government to issue national bonds, borrowing 200 million francs at an interest rate of 3.5%, to be repaid over 75 years. Budgetary constraints forced Governor-General Paul Doumer to proceed with the construction of three separate railway sections: Hanoi - Vinh, Da Nang - Quang Tri, and Saigon - Nha Trang.

By the end of 1910, the 200 million francs in national debt had been used up, and the colonial government was allowed to issue 90 million francs in national debt. Part of that money was used to build the Vinh-Dong Ha railway section, which began in 1913, was interrupted during World War I, and resumed in 1921 and opened to traffic in 1927.

According to documents published by the State Archives and Records Administration: The final section of the Hanoi-Saigon railway line, the Da Nang-Nha Trang section, spanning 545km, initially faced two differing viewpoints. Some advocated continuing the construction of the coastal railway line through Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, and Phu Yen as originally designed. Others countered, arguing that this region is prone to storms and strong winds, and would face competition from seagoing vessels. Strategically, this section would be within range of warships, thus proposing the construction of an inland line passing through Pakse (Laos) and Kratie (Cambodia) along the Mekong River valley to Saigon.

Vinh train station during the French colonial period. Photo: Flickr manhhai

However, after his trip, Colonial Minister Paul Raynaud realized that this "backbone" railway line needed to be completed quickly. A law passed on February 22, 1931, allowed the Indochinese government to tender for the construction of the Da Nang - Nha Trang coastal railway section, which had already been surveyed and designed. On October 1, 1936, trains departing from Hanoi and Saigon met at Hao Son station, south of Tuy Hoa, in the inauguration ceremony of the North-South railway line, nearly 40 years after construction began in 1898.

The Vinh-Xiengang railway project remains unfinished.

ParagraphHanoi - Vinh railwayRunning through the Northern Delta and Thanh Hoa to Vinh, the railway cost 43 million francs (13,000 francs/km of railway), with the Hanoi-Ninh Binh section inaugurated on January 9, 1903, and the Ninh Binh-Song Ma section inaugurated in December 1903. On March 17, 1905, the first steam train sounded its horn requesting passage to Vinh Station, officially marking the completion of the 320km railway line from Hanoi to Vinh. In his memoirs, the Governor-General of Indochina, Paul Doumer, particularly emphasized the importance of the Hanoi-Vinh railway line. He argued that, from a financial perspective, building railway lines in the Tonkin Delta and North Central Vietnam, running through densely populated and wealthy areas, was logical, especially because of the immediate revenue that their exploitation could generate.

“The economic benefits of the routes that will run through and connect the beautiful provinces of Thanh Hoa and Vinh will certainly be considerable. This is a vast, isolated land, without any transportation links to the outside world, that will be invited to join the flow of trade and exchange. The prosperity of the colony will therefore increase,” Paul Doumer wrote in his memoirs, clearly expressing his intention to exploit the colony in the Thanh Hoa and Nghe An regions through the construction of the railway.

Locomotive workshop in Vinh in the 1920s. Photo: Flickr manhhai

Along the North-South railway line, the French also built several smaller branch lines, and given its strategic importance, the Vinh-South railway line was particularly significant.Ben ThuyThe 5 km long line is one of the branch lines that were built. Through our research, we also learned that, in his intentions, the Governor-General of Indochina, Paul Doumer, chose Vinh as one of the important hubs to connect with Laos. He commissioned surveys and studies to establish three independent railway lines from Quy Nhon, Quang Tri, and Vinh connecting to Laos. Among these, the French surveyed to consider building a railway line from Vinh to Xieng Khouang (Laos) across the plateau of the same name, extending further, one side to Luang Prabang, the other to Vientiane or a nearby point upstream on the Mekong River.

Looking back at history reveals the strategic importance of Vinh city in terms of economic, cultural, and social development, as well as national defense, security, and foreign relations. In particular, for over 100 years, Vinh has been positioned as a crucial transportation hub serving trade between the North and South, and even with Laos. The establishment of the railway industry with Vinh Station, followed by the Truong Thi Locomotive Factory, brought about social changes in Vinh as laborers from other regions, especially from the North, came to work there, leading to the formation of Northern worker communities. This contributed to the formation and development of the working class in Nghe An. During the revolutionary struggle, these railway workers were crucial figures, contributing alongside the people of Nghe An to the struggle against colonialism and feudalism.