121 YEARS OLD Hanoi Train Street! 🚆🇻🇳
121 YEARS OLD Hanoi Train Street!
Ngõ 224 Lê Duẩn is a narrow alley in Hanoi’s Old Quarter, known as “The Train Street”, which sees a twice-daily speeding train pass close to buildings on either side of the tracks (the railroad tracks take up nearly the entirety of the “train street”). The track was built by the French in 1902 and is still an active rail line as of 2023. Hanoi’s Train Street is Vietnam’s most dangerous and surprisingly most famous street. Tourists were banned back in October 2019. The story of this vibrant railway street began in the early twentieth century, when the French colonial authority constructed a rail line to connect Hanoi with the coastal city of Haiphong in 1902. This train track cut through the center of Hanoi’s Old Quarter, and a community of railway workers and locals developed grown around them over time.
The train passes at 3pm and 7pm daily, on the rail line between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in the south. The alley is so narrow that local residents must remove their personal belongings, including bicycles and children, before the train passes. Locals often sit on the tracks, drinking tea and playing checkers. The street has become a popular tourist stop in Hanoi, but was closed to tourists by local authorities in October 2019 for security reasons, fearing a severe accident. Tourists would often stop and take pictures to post on social media along the narrow alley. In more recent times, the street was home to squatters and drug addicts amongst numerous cafes and residential buildings. The overcrowded street caused the need to reroute a local train on October 6, 2019, prompting the closure. Local cafes have sprung up to serve the bustling tourist trade along the street and owners are concerned over the loss of business the closure will bring. The VN Express newspaper cites a train driver that has had three close calls with tourists on the tracks, once only stopping only meters from the woman who was taking pictures of the train.
Tourists can safely watch the train from the outdoor seating areas of the local cafes; owners will typically move their stools closer to the wall and advise patrons to do so as the train approaches. Many will also post train times on chalk boards in their establishments. The Hanoi Train Street is one of the most famous and adventurous tourist spots in Hanoi. It’s a tiny narrow street hidden in one of the back streets of Hanoi and surrounded by high narrow houses packed closely together. These families’ backyards are the railways where the train passes a few times per day.
Even though the train passes through a big part of the town, The Hanoi Train Street is referred to only about a 100 meters long part where it’s the most narrow.
The reason why it’s so interesting for tourists is that the train passes literally a meter away from the houses. The safety line (marked with yellow color) is only about 20 centimeters away from the homes, and that’s the line you shouldn’t cross when the train is coming. Trust us, as we didn’t expect it to be so close.
It’s an exciting place to visit because right before the train comes, locals are rushing into their houses, making sure that their kids, pets, motorbikes, or any other belongings are safe inside. Nothing can be left outside. The ones who don’t make it inside the houses are hugging the walls, and we were one of them. But the exact second the train passes, everyone is already running out and across the tracks, as nothing happened.
It became one of the most popular spots in Hanoi after a local woman opened a shop in late 2017. But, of course, everyone else also made sure to make a business out of it, so many other cafes soon opened their doors along the tracks where tourists could safely enjoy this rare occurrence.
The cafes here are some of the cutest we visited in Vietnam. They are so colorful, full of flowers, art, paintings, and all kinds of decorations. You can sit down just a meter away from the tracks, or you can choose a spot upstairs where you get a higher perspective of the passing train.
Hanoi Train Street is really a one-of-a-kind site that provides tourists with an experience unlike any other in the globe. The sight of a train moving down a tight passageway with residences and stores only inches away is both exhilarating and awe-inspiring.
The train passes through Hanoi Train Street twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. Tourists may watch the stunning sight of the train approaching and blasting its horn to warn people to move out of the path. Visitors can feel the surge of wind and hear the engine scream as it passes through the alleyway.
Another famous location that is comparable to Hanoi Train Street is Thailand’s Mae Klong Railway Market.
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