The railway sector started selling tickets on October 6 for the Tet Lunar New Year, with prices increasing by 4-5 percent compared to last year.
From early morning of October 6, hundreds of people queued at Saigon Station in HCM City to buy Tet train tickets. The ticketing system on the station's second floor, with eight counters, was running at full capacity.
Despite the availability of multiple ticketing channels, including the website, e-wallets (MoMo, VNPay, ZaloPay, ViettelPay), mobile apps, hotlines, and agents, many passengers still prefer to purchase their tickets directly at Saigon Station.
Within two hours of ticket sales opening, around 26,000 tickets for the Lunar New Year trains were sold, a sharp rise from the 16,300 tickets sold during the same period last year.
Thai Van Truyen, General Director of Saigon Railway Transport JSC, said that since October 1, passengers have been required to pay immediately when booking to avoid the issue of holding fake reservations.
To improve service quality, this year, the Tet trains will not sell extra seats. Many seating cars have been upgraded into sleeper cabins, reducing the number of seats but offering greater comfort for passengers. Consequently, the total number of seats available for Tet is expected to be around 167,000 across 388 train trips, marking a decline of nearly 38,000 seats compared to last year.
This is among the reasons for higher Tet train tickets. The longest route linking HCM City and Hanoi has the highest ticket price, ranging from VND2.2 million to 3.2 million on peak days. VIP cabins with just two sleeper beds are available for up to VND6.4 million each.
The Tet train schedule runs from January 15 to February 16, 2025. To meet Tet demand, the railway sector will deploy 22 pairs of trains daily, including nine pairs for the Hanoi-HCM City route and 13 pairs for shorter routes to various localities.
At present, the railway sector is prioritising ticket sales for long routes to the north. During the peak period from January 24 to 27, tickets from HCM City to various central localities, including Quang Ngai, Phu Yen, and Binh Dinh, are nearly sold out. If the demand continues to rise, more trains will be added.
During Tet, the railway sector provides a 3 percent discount on ticket prices for trains departing from Saigon Station on January 27 for 1,000 kilometres or more. Passengers buying return tickets will get a 5 percent discount, while students can be offered a 20 percent discount, depending on the train type and travel times.
