VI
EN
After more than 72 hours of strenuous efforts to repair the serious damage caused by falling rocks from the cliff, the North-South railway line through Hai Van Pass has officially reopened. This is the result of an emergency infrastructure clearance operation involving hundreds of personnel in treacherous terrain, aiming to ensure absolute safety for passengers and goods traveling through the pass, known as "the most magnificent pass in the world".
The incident began on the morning of March 14th when a large mass of rock from the embankment suddenly collapsed onto the railway tracks at a resort construction site. The landslide not only broke a section of track at kilometer 768+800 but also caused the locomotive of freight train AH1, which was traveling at the time, to derail.
A close-up view shows a section of railway track at kilometer 768+800 on Hai Van Pass completely broken and deformed under the impact of massive rocks falling freely from the cliff.
Despite the efforts of technical units to temporarily reopen the line after 6 hours of repairs, rocks continued to roll down from the high cliffs, forcing the Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR) to order a second closure of the line. The decision to temporarily suspend traffic was a necessary solution as geological risks remained, directly threatening train safety.
Throughout the three-day lockdown, the landslide site at Hai Van Pass remained under constant alert, with hundreds of workers and engineers on duty 24/7. The remediation efforts faced numerous challenges due to the location of the incident on a steep mountainside, posing a high risk of secondary landslides. Expert teams had to implement a combination of manual and mechanical demolition methods to remove massive boulders that threatened to fall from the embankment. Simultaneously, the damaged railway infrastructure was replaced and reinforced to withstand the weight of heavy-duty trains. A representative from VNR (Vietnam Railways) affirmed that all repair work was rigorously inspected according to industry safety standards before being allowed to resume operation.
Hundreds of railway workers are urgently removing large rocks from the embankment and reinforcing infrastructure in the steep terrain to quickly restore the vital North-South transportation link.
The three-day disruption caused significant economic losses and directly affected the travel plans of thousands of people. According to statistics from the railway industry, 12 passenger trains were completely canceled and more than 3,200 train tickets were refunded to passengers due to route changes.
In particular, tourist train routes connecting Hue and Da Nang, which are attracting a large number of tourists, have been forced to temporarily suspend operations. To ensure the rights of passengers, the Railway Transport Company organized bus transfers between Lang Co station and Da Nang station for more than 5,600 people on 31 North-South trains. Preliminary estimates indicate that the loss in transportation costs has reached 10 billion VND, not including the enormous cost of repairing the damaged railway infrastructure.
The problem was quickly resolved, and the route was restored to avoid disrupting tourists' schedules.
According to the restoration plan, after the line reopened on the evening of March 16th, the railway sector prioritized the movement of freight trains first, initially at a limited speed of 5 km/h, to test the stability of the trackbed. Once the technical parameters ensure absolute safety, the speed will be gradually increased according to regulations. At exactly 0:00 on March 17th, the North-South passenger train system, including trains SE1, SE2, SE3, SE4, etc., officially resumed normal operation according to the scheduled timetable.
Currently, in addition to restoring traffic, authorities are also thoroughly investigating the cause of the rockfalls from the resort project area above the railway tracks. Ensuring railway safety in construction areas on high mountains is a valuable lesson that needs to be emphasized to avoid similar incidents from recurring. The railway industry advises passengers who have booked tickets during this period to proactively check train schedules at stations to arrange their journeys accordingly.
