Hà Nội Railway Station is one of nation's largest stations. The Hà Nội Department of Tourism has checked out the venue as the starting point for a new special train tour. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — A special train tour will be launched soon to help visitors have more memorable experiences and discover more about Hà Nội and the surrounding areas.

The municipal Department of Tourism are working with the Việt Nam Railway Corporation (VNR) to look into the inner city's stations and build a double-deck train to carry tourists on specially designed routes, with seven carriages expected to be launched in August.

Hà Nội Department of Tourism Deputy Director Trần Trung Hiếu said that the railway line around Hà Nội was a special resource. It did not just serve as a transportation facility. Still, it was also a cultural experience, where visitors could explore the capital, journeying through each train station and seeing some historical stories.

Hà Nội currently has an urban railway line running through the city, which passes by several historic and cultural sites and landmarks.

The Hà Nội Railway Station in the centre of the capital city is the largest and most important transportation hub in the country. 

Built and opened in 1902, the station enjoys a western-style design by Henri Vildieu. It was also one of the largest stations in Southeast Asia at that time. The building's central hall was damaged in the war in 1972 and rebuilt in 1976 in a more modernist style, preserving the historic side wings.

Long Biên Station is one of the stops in the planned train tours by the Hà Nội Department of Tourism and VNR. Photo kinhtedothi.vn

Long Biên Station is a second historical station within Hà Nội's old inner city districts. While the central station mainly serves the main North-South and north-west routes, Long Biên station takes rail travellers to destinations in the North and East. 

Being in operation since 1902, the station welcomes about 28 trains back and forth every day. Staying next to one of the city's symbols, Long Biên Bridge, the station itself is also a living historical evidence of the courage of the capital throughout the ups and downs of the 20th century.

Gia Lâm is a small station located in the northeast of Hà Nội, about 5km from the city centre. Trains to the northern cities depart from here, while currently it is also the terminal station for international trains to Guilin, Nanning and Beijing, China. 

Next to the station is the Gia Lâm train factory, which was founded in 1905 during French colonial rule. It was the first train factory in the region, serving as a vital hub for train maintenance and repairs, and later expanded to produce weapons during the war in 1955-75.  

The former train factory at Gia Lâm draws many visitors as it is open for public during a festival for creative design. VNA/VNS Photo

Today, the factory is an industrial heritage site, contributing to creative tourism offers and hosting special events.  

Cổ Loa Station is in Đông Anh District, 18km from the city centre. Built in 1902 under the French architectural style, it is a stop along the national North-South route. Tourists who visit this station will have the opportunity to explore the national historical relic Cổ Loa Citadel, the most ancient of all the citadels in Việt Nam. It is also the biggest in scale, considered a unique architectural piece, with ramparts constructed during the earliest times.

According to experts and travel agencies' representatives, these locations have great potential to develop into exciting stops along the routes of special train tours, occupying a cultural space as they are located in the connecting space between heritage, culture and creative areas of Hà Nội.

The halls will be designed and decorated as cultural spaces, which will host storytelling workshops, music and dance performances, along with exhibitions about the station's legacy. 

Travel agencies also suggested carrying out some other services focusing on culture and traditions, such as folk arts like ca trù (ceremonial singing) and xẩm (blind buskers’ singing), local cuisine like rolled phở, young rice cakes and lotus tea and handicraft stalls of Vạn Phúc silk and folk paintings on the trains.  

Ca trù (ceremonial singing) is one of the atrractions suggested as a way to entertain train travellers. VNA/VNS Photo

So the trains themselves will become mobile cultural areas, with each tour becoming something special to enhance the visitor experience in the capital.  

In addition, the railway company will also assist the tourism partners to sell tour-train ticket-accommodation-sightseeing combinations and at the same time, adjust train schedules to fit in with relics' opening hours and passenger schedules.

The tour involving a seven carriage double-decker train is expected to make its first run on August 19. VNS