From 8:00 a.m. on October 6, train tickets for Tet 2025 will be sold directly at stations, ticket offices and online.
After 1 hour of opening for sale, the total number of tickets booked and paid for by customers was 21,000, applied to both the pre- and post-Tet phases. Meanwhile, in the same period last year, in the first two hours of opening for sale, only nearly 16,300 tickets were sold.
At Saigon Station (District 3), more than 200 passengers lined up to buy tickets directly. The ticket sales system on the 2nd floor of the station with 8 counters operates continuously to serve the needs of the people.
Mr. Nguyen Van Binh (District 12) said that because he was not familiar with booking tickets online, he went to the station to buy a ticket directly to Nam Dinh. "This year's sleeper ticket to Nam Dinh costs more than 3 million VND, higher than the bus ticket, but I chose to go by train because it is safer when I have a small child. If I go by plane, I have to buy an additional ticket for my child" - Mr. Binh shared.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy, a worker in Binh Tan District, also chose to go directly to the station to buy tickets to ensure that she would have Tet tickets. "I bought two round-trip tickets from Saigon to Hanoi, departing on the 27th of Tet and returning on the 6th with a total cost of more than 10 million VND. Although the ticket prices are higher than last year, I still chose to buy them to ensure the safety of my child," Ms. Thuy said.
In addition to direct ticket sales, passengers can book tickets through channels such as: Vietnam Railways website, e-wallets (MoMo, VNPay, ZaloPay, ViettelPay), mobile applications, ticket sales call centers, and many other distribution channels.
Mr. Thai Van Truyen - General Director of Saigon Railway Transport Joint Stock Company - said that from October 1, the railway industry has stopped the "buy tickets, hold seats and pay later" feature when passengers buy tickets online. Instead, passengers must pay immediately when booking tickets to avoid virtual seat reservations.
Train ticket prices for Tet 2025 will increase by 4% to 5% compared to the same period last year, depending on the route and type of train.
The highest ticket price is for a soft sleeper on train SE2 during peak times (from January 21 to 27, 2025, or from December 22 to 28), costing more than VND3.2 million, higher than the previous year's price of more than VND3.1 million. VIP tickets in a 2-berth cabin cost up to VND6.4 million.
The lowest fare is a soft seat on TN4/6 trains during peak season, priced from over VND2.2 million, unchanged from last year.
A new point in selling train tickets for Tet 2025 is not selling extra seats and converting 11 seat cars into sleeper cars, reducing the number of trips and seats compared to last year.
Tet 2025 will have 388 trains with 167,000 seats, a decrease of 38,000 seats compared to 2024.
However, Mr. Truyen said that if demand increases, the railway industry will organize additional trains to serve passengers during peak days before and after Tet.
On the occasion of Tet At Ty 2025, the railway industry applies many ticket price incentives for passengers from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi before Tet and from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City after Tet:
3% discount on ticket prices for trains departing from Saigon station on January 27, 2025 (December 28) for passengers traveling 1,000 km or more.
2-8% discount on ticket prices for groups of 11 or more people traveling on even-numbered trains (from January 15 to January 20, 2025) and odd-numbered trains (from February 10 to February 16, 2025). Tour guides get a 50% discount.
5% discount on round trip tickets.
20% discount for students taking even-numbered trains from 15.1 to 21.1.2025 and odd-numbered trains from 10.2 to 16.2.2025. Other times 10% discount.
