The Cau Giat - Nghia Dan railway line needs to be reopened?

(Baonghean) -The railway line from Cau Giat Station to Nghia Dan was built in the 20th century to serve the need of transporting goods between the plains and the mountainous districts of Nghe An province. About a few decades ago, it was considered the lifeline between the lowlands and the highlands, but now this route is being forgotten.

A historical mission

I still remember, in the early 60s of the 20th century, the railway line from Cau Giat station to Nghia Dan station always struck at the right time, the train was loaded with goods from the lowlands and transported forest products... to the main station to go South, up North. Anyone who lived in those years, even though they were busy with a thousand things, when the train whistle sounded, they knew for sure what time it was. People living along the railway line from Ngoc Son commune, Quynh Chau (Quynh Luu) all the way to Nghia Thuan, Nghia My (Nghia Dan)... were all familiar with dozens of train cars following each other according to schedule. There were times when the train ran 2 to 3 trips each morning.

The Cau Giat - Nghia Dan railway once had a historical mission, helping people to trade back and forth, enlightening the fertile land of Phu Quy, contributing to the construction of socialism in the North. In the mid-1960s, this railway once recorded the scene of people carrying goods and assets to stick to the cars and trains to migrate to the highlands to reclaim land and build new economic zones. The freight transport capacity of the railway from Giat to Nghia Dan nearly 40 years ago not only helped the economic and social trade between the people in the mountainous areas of districts such as Nghia Dan, Quy Hop, Quy Chau and the lowlands such as Quynh Luu, Dien Chau become bustling, but also played an important role in transporting food and weapons to serve the war against the US to save the country.

The Cau Giat - Nghia Dan railway line has been a place for children to herd buffaloes and play for many years (photo taken on the route through Nghia Thuan commune).

Many Kinh villages and hamlets in the plains of Nghia Dan and Quy Hop now have a prosperous life but still cannot forget the bustling trains going back and forth during the years of fighting the Americans.

Now forgotten?

However, for nearly ten years now, this railway line has been devoid of trains.

After asking around for a long time, we finally found the way to Nghia Dan Station, which is now located in Thai Hoa Town. The dilapidated, desolate, and overgrown weeds around the station are easily recognizable. Meeting Mr. Truong Van Dung, Head of Nghia Dan Station, who has been involved in the railway line since 1981, asking about the current operation of Nghia Dan Station, Mr. Dung said: The railway line from Cau Giat Station to Nghia Dan Station is nearly 30km long, built in 1966, with the task of gathering materials, transferring them to the lowlands, effectively serving the task of socio-economic development of the Phu Quy region, which was once bustling with goods passing through. Up to now, although there are still regular patrol teams to ensure safety and technical aspects, there are still no freight cars to transport for a month. With no job, no income, the workers here have no choice but to close the station and go to work elsewhere.

According to Mr. Dung, in terms of safety and cost, goods transported by rail are 1/3 cheaper than by road. However, due to the lack of specialized carriages and inadequate cargo gathering areas, mineral exploitation enterprises cannot transport goods by rail. Specifically, nearly 500 tons of Basalt stone of Vinh Long Company Limited after being gathered at the Station, the number of trains and vehicles has been left unused since February 2010 until now. Without the number of carriages and vehicles, the volume of goods transported by the Station every quarter is only on paper.

Nghia Dan Station is shabby.

It is known that this railway line has 5 Barie stations directly blocking local roads, Provincial Road 537, National Highway 48 with dozens of officers and workers, but they are currently idle.

The situation is similar at Cau Giat Station. Not only is it a transit point for goods to Nghia Dan, but this is also a station on the North-South railway line but it is also "deserted as Ba Danh Pagoda". Explaining the fact that the transport capacity on the Cau Giat - Nghia Dan railway line has decreased, Station Chief Ho Xuan Mai said: In recent years, the number of vehicles arranged to transport goods on this route has been very small. There were years when the number of vehicles to serve the transport on this route could be counted on the fingers. Many times we have requested the superiors to increase the number of vehicles to serve the transport but there was no response. The number of carriages serving the transport is also no longer suitable for bulk goods such as stone powder, tin ore, additives. Customers who order transport from there also do not care about it anymore.

Nearly 500 tons of Basalt stone of Vinh Long Company have been left unattended for nearly 2 years.

Need to be cleared again?

Along the railway from Cau Giat to Nghia Dan is a fertile plain, covered with green forests, endless rubber trees, and endless coffee trees all the way to Phu Quy. Not to mention, in Nghia Dan, Quy Hop, Quy Chau, there are a lot of mineral resources such as basalt, white stone, ore, etc. Many farms and factories are springing up on the red soil of Phu Quy, which will create sources of goods and exploit resources to supply regions, not only in the province but also throughout the country. And so, the demand for transporting goods by rail is not small. According to calculations, railways still have many advantages over road transport. That is, the cost of transport is cheap, can transfer large volumes and is highly safe.

To develop the potential of the railway industry, the immediate task is to invest, upgrade carriages and increase the number of vehicles in a timely manner. In view of the above situation, all levels need to have more solutions to fully exploit the transport capacity of the Cau Giat - Nghia Dan railway line. In the immediate future, to resume the transportation of goods evenly, the railway industry needs to remove difficulties and obstacles at Cau Giat and Nghia Dan stations, plan to upgrade the roads to the yard to make it more open, and find abundant sources of goods available in the area.

To meet the diverse and rich transportation needs, the Nghia Dan - Cau Giat railway needs to be restored, or should it be forgotten along with its historical and economic values, which the state has spent a lot of effort and money to invest in building?

Ngoc Thai