The “Vietnam-Japan Friendship Train” departed from Hanoi station toHo Chi Minh City at 7pm on May 8, beginning its 30-trip operation onthe North-South railway from now to September.

Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Tanizaki Yasuaki, Chief Representative ofthe Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Vietnam TsumoMotonori, and leaders of the Vietnam Railway Corporation and theMinistry of Transport are on the memorable train.

The SE1 from Hanoi station and the SE2 from Saigon station are under the name “The Vietnam-Japan Friendship Train”.

The last journey of the train will depart from Saigon station onSeptember 21, the date 40 years ago Vietnam and Japan officiallysigned a diplomatic note on the establishment of their diplomatic ties.

Addressing the ribbon cutting ceremony, DeputyTransport Minister Nguyen Ngoc Dong highly valued the establishment ofthis programme, considering it a symbol of the Vietnam-Japan friendship.It is part of activities to celebrate the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Yearand the 40 th anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic ties.

Japan has always been the leading sponsor for Vietnam ’ssocio-economic development, notably the project to upgrade theNorth-South railway, he added.

Between 1993 and 2013, Japan hashelped Vietnam upgrade and replace 48 out of 63 railway bridges onthe route with a total cost of 45.1 billion JPY.

Thanks to this,the travel time between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City has been cutfrom 36 to 30 hours. It is expected that the time will be 24 hours ifthe replacement of remaining bridges is completed.-VNA