Đà Lạt Station. — Photo from Việt Nam Railway

LÂM ĐỒNG — The Central Highlands province of Lâm Đồng has targeted to complete the restoration of the Đà Lạt-Tháp Chàm railway and put it into operation by 2030.

This is part of the province’s newly-approved railway development plan until 2030, with a vision to 2045.

Early this year, the Bạch Đằng Hotel Service & Trading Joint Stock Company submitted to the Ministry of Transport a draft pre-feasibility study report of the project to restore the Tháp Chàm-Lâm Đồng railway line under the contract of Public-Private Partnership (PPP).

According to the report, the railway route runs through Phan Rang City, Ninh Sơn District (Ninh Thuận Province) to the mountainous resort city of Đà Lạt via Đơn Dương District (Lâm Đồng Province). The railway line is more than 83km long, with 16 stations. The project is expected to be carried out from January 2025 to June 2029.

The project has two components, including the restoration of the 76km line from Tháp Chàm Station (Ninh Thuận Province) to Trại Mát Station (Đà Lạt, Lâm Đồng Province) with bridges, tunnels, and stations to be restored or built. The second component is to upgrade the section from Trại Mát Station to Đà Lạt Station which is currently being implemented.

According to the pre-feasibility report, the total preliminary investment is about VNĐ28.98 trillion (US$1.21 billion), including VNĐ2.16 trillion from State’s budget.

The railway between Đà Lạt and Tháp Chàm is one of the rare serrated railways in the world, which is referred to as the legendary railway of Asia. Built in 24 years from 1908 to 1932, with its length of 84km, the railway once played an important part in the economic development of Đà Lạt, especially in tourism.

Before 1975, the route was totally damaged due to war in Việt Nam, and most of the rails, locomotives and train carriages were dismantled and used for other purposes.

In 1991, a 7km section of the route was restored to serve tourism by the tourism sector in coordination with the State-run company Việt Nam Railway. The service, running from Đà Lạt to Trại Mát (also in Đà Lạt City), attracts hundreds of visitors each day. — VNS