Asia Unseen · 6 October 2026
The Hanoi–Saigon train: the official fare table, class by class
Thirty-two hours of train to cross the country: against a two-hour flight it looks like a lost argument. The official fare table tells a more interesting story.
1,726 kilometres, 32 h 45, and a fare table published by the operator. Against a two-hour flight the train looks like a lost argument. The numbers make it a more interesting one.
What the official table says
Fares for the SE1, Hanoi to Saigon, from the operator’s own grid:
| Class | Fare |
|---|---|
| Air-conditioned reclining seat | 1,122,000 VND |
| Soft berth, 6-person compartment, top bunk | 1,516,000 VND |
| Soft berth, 6-person compartment, middle bunk | 1,664,000 VND |
| Soft berth, 6-person compartment, bottom bunk | 1,894,000 VND |
| Soft berth, air-conditioned, 4-person, top bunk | 1,884,000 VND |
| Soft berth, air-conditioned, 4-person, bottom bunk | 2,051,000 VND |
| Private compartment, 2 berths | 3,077,000 VND |
| VIP private compartment, 2 berths | 4,510,000 VND |
Two things worth noticing in that table.
The bottom bunk costs more than the top one — 378,000 VND more in the six-person compartment. You are paying for the ability to sit up, and for not climbing. On two nights aboard it is a defensible premium.
The four-person compartment’s top bunk costs more than the six-person compartment’s bottom bunk. If your priority is space rather than posture, the arithmetic is not the one you would guess.
Against the plane, the real sum
Domestic flights on this route are frequently cheaper than a soft berth. Anyone who tells you the train is the budget option has not looked recently.
What the fare does not show is where the train wins:
- It replaces a night of accommodation. Two of them, in fact.
- It lands you in the city centre, not at an airport an hour out with a transfer to arrange at either end.
- The day between Hue and Da Nang, along the Hai Van coast, is the reason most people remember the journey at all.
Add the two hotel nights back into the flight’s cost and the gap narrows sharply. Add the airport transfers and it often closes.
What it does not survive is a tight schedule. Thirty-two hours is thirty-two hours, and no argument makes them shorter. On a two-week trip covering the whole country, one leg by train and the rest by air is usually the right split.
Buying in the right place
Buy on the operator’s own site. Intermediaries resell the same berths with a commission that is not always visible — and since the official table is public, you can check what you are being charged before you pay.
That is the same mechanism as everywhere else on this site: the markup lives where no price is published, and here one is.
One thing to sort out first
Whether you need a visa, and for how long. British travellers currently get 45 days visa-free; Canadians need a visa from day one, before departure. That difference decides whether a 32-hour train fits in your stay at all.
The Vietnam page gives the rule for your passport, with the government source and the month it was read. The Hanoi airport guide covers getting into the city at the northern end.
What to remember
- 32 h 45, 1,726 km, leaving Hanoi at 21:45 and arriving on the second morning.
- 1,122,000 to 4,510,000 VND on the published table, with the usual berth around 1.5 to 1.9 million.
- Not automatically cheaper than flying — but it replaces two hotel nights and two airport transfers.
- Buy from the operator, because the official table lets you check the price.
Common questions
How long does the Hanoi to Saigon train take?
32 h 45 on the SE1, the fastest through service, over 1,726 km. It leaves Hanoi at 21:45 and arrives in Saigon at 06:30 on the second morning, which means two nights on board and one full day of coastline. Slower services on the same line take up to 36 hours.
How much does the Hanoi–Saigon train cost?
From 1,122,000 VND for an air-conditioned reclining seat to 4,510,000 VND for a two-berth VIP compartment, on the operator's published table. The usual choice, a soft berth in a six-person compartment, runs from 1,516,000 VND on the top bunk to 1,894,000 on the bottom one.
Is the train cheaper than flying in Vietnam?
Not always, and that is the honest answer. Domestic flights are frequently cheaper than a soft berth. The train wins on what the fare does not show: it replaces a night of accommodation, it lands you in the city centre rather than at an airport, and the day of coastline between Hue and Da Nang is the reason most people remember the trip.
Where should you buy Vietnamese train tickets?
On the operator's own site. Intermediaries resell the same seats with a commission that is not always visible, and the official table is public — which means you can check what you are being charged before you pay.
Sources
Rules and prices change without notice. Confirm at the official source before you book — that is the only thing that counts.