In the 2025 summer travel season, it will not be easy for tourists to book train tickets as the Vietnamese tourism transportation market is shifting from air travel to train travel for domestic trips, in order to minimize costs and increase experiences.
The train ticket market has been heating up since the beginning of the 2025 summer travel season as a trend to reduce costs and enhance experiences for domestic travel. This phenomenon began with the fact that airfare prices are always fluctuating in an upward direction and the emergence of many diverse, unique and convenient train tour products.
On the first weekend of July, Ngoc Han’s family ( Hanoi ), because they could not finalize their itinerary early, decided to book train tickets only 3 days before departure. However, all Hanoi – Da Nang trains were sold out. “I went to a friend at a train ticket agency and learned that all trains departing on weekends were sold out a few days, even weeks before departure. On holidays, the phenomenon of “selling out” tickets was even earlier,” Ngoc Han said.
According to Ngoc Han, unable to buy train tickets but also not wanting to change the itinerary due to the nature of work, Ngoc Han's family decided to switch to a sleeper bus. However, they almost couldn't buy tickets for the bus.
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| The train ticket market is gradually heating up from the beginning of the 2025 summer tourist season. (Photo: VNR). |
Talking to many travel and tourism companies, it is known that this happens when airfares during peak season often increase. At the same time, the quality of trains has also been significantly improved recently and travel is relatively convenient, traveling by train also helps save 40-50% of travel costs for each journey.
The evidence is that on online travel platforms and platforms selling train, bus, and plane tickets, interest in train tickets has increased by 50% since the beginning of summer 2025 on the routes: Hanoi - Dong Hoi - Dong Ha - Hue - Da Nang and vice versa. In particular, the short route Hanoi - Hai Phong is also of great interest. Some routes have recorded "sold out" tickets every weekend. The rate of train tours has also increased from 8% to 15% of total summer tourism products in 2025 with many diverse products.
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| The trend of "slow" travel to increase opportunities to experience and explore Vietnam is making train travel "hot" in the summer of 2025. (Photo: VNA). |
“If passengers do not plan to book tickets 10-15 days in advance, it will be very difficult to buy the type of sleeper ticket they want. This is also what the Railway Transport Joint Stock Company recommends to passengers to have the most proactive and complete trip,” shared with Voice of Vietnam Electronic Newspaper on the afternoon of September 18, a representative of the Railway Transport Joint Stock Company reminded tourists and people who need to travel by train during the 2025 summer tourist season, especially during the upcoming National Day holiday on September 2.
According to information from tourism and transportation platforms. The tourism trend is shifting from air to train, forming medium and short journeys thanks to the advantage of optimizing travel time, because train stations are often located in the city center, helping passengers save a lot of time and initial travel costs. The boarding procedure is simple, just need to be present 30 minutes in advance.
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| Compared to flying, traveling by train can save 40-50% of travel costs for each trip. (Photo: VNR). |
For short and medium-distance routes such as Hanoi - Vinh, Ho Chi Minh City - Nha Trang or Da Nang - Quy Nhon..., or not-so-long overnight train journeys such as Hanoi - Hue - Da Nang, visitors can take advantage of a night on the train for interesting and convenient experiences. An 8 - 10 hour overnight train allows visitors to rest, work, or connect with family and relatives. At the same time, saving on the cost of a night's hotel stay as well as transportation costs. This helps turn travel time and experiences on the train into a valuable part of the trip.
According to the Railway Transport Joint Stock Company, in the 2025 summer tourist season, the travel demand of people and tourists by rail on the North-South route, especially the Hanoi-Da Nang route and vice versa, will grow strongly, not only on weekends, due to tourism events in Hue and Da Nang creating a strong attraction, attracting a large number of tourists from Hanoi and the northern provinces.
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| The trend of traveling by train is becoming more and more popular to optimize costs and experiences. (Photo: VNR). |
"To serve the travel needs of people and tourists during the National Day holiday on September 2, the railway industry has planned to open early train ticket sales so that people can proactively arrange their schedules and avoid local "hot" situations on peak days. The online ticket sales system on the company's website and e-wallet and banking applications... is maintained to operate stably 24/7. Along with that, in addition to 07 pairs of Thong Nhat trains on the North-South route during the summer of 2025, the Company is organizing daily runs of high-quality trains SE19 and SE20. At the same time, to meet the sudden increase in demand on weekends, we have organized additional runs of trains SE17 and SE18. We are also applying many attractive discount policies during the summer such as: 10% discount when buying tickets early, 5% discount for round-trip tickets and a discount policy of 3% to 9% for group guests", said a representative of the Railway Transport Joint Stock Company.
In the context of the growing domestic tourism market, digital technology platforms are playing their role in providing information and online ticket booking services, creating many conveniences for tourists. The trend of moving to trains, especially for short and medium domestic routes, is becoming more and more popular thanks to cost and experience optimization.
According to Thu Vu/ VOV.VN
Source: https://baovinhlong.com.vn/xa-hoi/du-lich/202507/xu-the-giam-chi-phi-tang-trai-nghiem-khien-ve-tau-hoa-nong-mua-du-lich-he-2025-1a91b8c/
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