According to historical documents, the 70km-long Saigon – My Tho railway train lines began operating on July 20, 1885, also the first railway line of Vietnam and Indochina. This train line was built by contractor Joret in 1881 with about 11,000 employees, mainly Vietnamese workers. Initially, the construction of Ben Luc and Tan An bridges had not been completed, so when coming here, the train had to be disassembled and put on a ferry across the river before continuing to My Tho.
In May 1886, trains from Saigon ran straight to My Tho and vice versa. The first time was running on steam, so it was quite slow. It was not until 1896 that running on a new machine, the time was shortened to less than two hours. And from about the 1930s, it ran on diesel, also known as autorail.
The first station is called Cho Lon Moi, located on the side of An Dong market now. The last station is My Tho, located at the corner of Trung Trac Street – April 30 (Ward 1, My Tho City, Tien Giang) today. My Tho station has French-style architecture, roof tiles, walls, round doors, a place to sell tickets, a place for passengers to wait, a scale used to weigh luggage and those who have a lot of goods have to pay more.
The old Saigon – My Tho train route had 4-5 trips per day. The first flight from My Tho to Saigon departs around 4 am, serving civil servants who live in My Tho but work in Saigon. The Saigon – My Tho train route ended its operation in 1958, which means it has existed for 73 years. After the Vietnam War, the new government has chosen Hoa Hung Train station as the central train station many locals mistakenly say it was Saigon Train Station. That was the history. How is the city train going now?
Let’s Discover An Amazing Guide to Exploring Saigon’s Rail Tracks
Located on Nguyen Thong Street in District 3, the central train station is now degraded, the surrounding hygiene is not good, only the old train station of the Northern government creates a unique point for the station.
From the main entrance, we go along Tran Van Dang street, before you proceed to visit you can start with a light breakfast like with bread or noodle soup nearby.
Here, the story will stop, next time Jackfruit will update you more about the cafes, restaurants on both sides of the road you can stop by to rest after exploring the train tracks, and ride a bike with us to explore Saigon with us!
