Saigoneer.com – Published on Monday, 05 December 2016 11:06

Written by Tim Doling.

As ever-increasing levels of traffic congestion and air pollution turn many of Ho Chi Minh City’s road junctions into choking bottlenecks, many hopes are pinned on plans to construct a new urban railway network in the southern metropolis. Yet urban railways are hardly a new concept in this city, which was once home to one of Southeast Asia’s largest urban tramway networks.

Indochina’s first mechanized rail-guided transportation system was the one-meter gauge Saigon–Cho Lon “high road” steam tramway, operated by the Societe Generale des Tramways a Vapeur de Cochinchine (SGTVC) and opened to the public on December 27, 1881.

Continue reading on CVD >>

Saigoneer.com – Published on Monday, 01 February 2016 10:37

Written by Tim Doling

When they first drew up plans for a citywide tramway network in 1894, it seemed as though the Hanoi authorities would follow Saigon’s example by opting for steam traction. Yet, by the time government approval was forthcoming in 1899, advances in technology made it possible to construct the entire system as a state-of-the-art, one-meter gauge electric tramway.

In 1900, the Compagnie des Tramways Électriques d’Hanoï et Extensions (CTEH) was to set up to build the first two tramway lines, which were jointly inaugurated in November 1901.

Continue reading on CVD >>