Vietnam Railways strengthens cargo transportation to ease losses

June 11, 2021 | 22:54

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State-owned giant Vietnam Railways (VNR) is enhancing cargo transportation to ease losses from passenger transportation as COVID-19 continues to hurt the industry.

vietnam railways strengthens cargo transportation to ease losses

While reducing passenger transport, Vietnam Railways is stepping up cargo transport to make up for lost revenue

State-owned giant Vietnam Railways (VNR) saw a strong fall in revenue from passenger transportation in the first five months of 2021 due to COVID-19.

In May, with the fourth wave of the pandemic struck many cities and provinces, VNR transported only a little more than 132,300 passengers, making a revenue of VND44.7 billion ($1.94 million) from this service, equal to 55.4 per cent of the same period last year.

On the North-South railway network, VNR only runs two two-way trains, mostly cargo trains, while suspending the majority of passenger transportation.

Vu Anh Minh, chairman of VNR, blamed the situation on the negative impacts of COVID-19, and stiffening competition from other means of transport.

According to reports from railway transportation companies under VNR, if the pandemic remains serious, the railway industry is estimated to have lost hundreds of billions of dong in 2021.

To deal with the difficulties and challenges, VNR has been enhancing cargo transportation and applying flexible pricing policies to make revenue.

Statistics from VNR shows that VNR’s cargo transportation is keeping stable operation, increasing 26.9 per cent on-year in volume and 21.8 per cent on-year in revenue since the beginning of this year.

The good performance of cargo transformation is partly helping the railway giant ease the downtrend in the difficult time.