Train driver receives medal for bravery

HA NOI — Train driver Truong Xuan Thuc, who saved 300 passengers during a crash two months ago, will receive a medal for bravery next Tuesday. The award was approved by President Nguyen Minh Triet.

Thuc endured several injuries after applying the train's emergency brakes to avoid colliding with a truck two months ago.

His right leg was broken and his left arm crushed. He is recovering from his operations.

10,000 old vehicles to cease operation

HA NOI — About 10,377 out-of-date vehicles that are used to transport goods and people nationwide would cease operations on January 1, 2011, reported the Viet Nam Register.

Under a Government decree, the out-of-date vehicles include automobiles that were made in 1985, 1990 and 1993.

Man admits having fake MSG

HA NOI — The Investigative Police Deparment has arrested Bui Dac Chien, 31, producing fake monosodium glutamate (MSG).

Police seized 344 packages of fake MSG. Chien admitted to police that the fake MSG packages were bought at Tan Thanh Border Gate in Lang Son Province.

17 people poisoned by fish toxins

QUANG NGAI — The Nha Trang Pasteur Institute reported that 17 people poisoned on October 31 after eating barracuda had ingested a toxin called Ciguatera.

According to medical professionals, the toxin causes fatigue, nausea and diarrhoea. — VNS

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Ha Long luxury train fails to get enough custom

HA NOI — The luxury Ha Long Express train service has been discontinued just one year after opening due to lack of demand.

The Ha Noi Railway Company was contracted by South Korean firm Dongrim to operate the service and had a total investment of almost US$1 million. The six-carriage train could seat 310 passengers in leather upholstered luxury, and was equipped with bars and 29 inch-LCD televisions. It was air-conditioned throughout.

The service, which ran from Gia Lam station in Long Bien District of Ha Noi to Ha Long City in northeastern Quang Ninh Province, was launched in April 2009.

Dongrim said the service targeted tourists heading for Ha Long Bay. However, due to lack of demand, the train service was losing money hand over fist – despite the fact that tickets were reasonably priced at between $15 (for tourists) and $5 (local passengers), the company said.

"There were times when there were just five or six customers travelling on the train," said Nguyen Van Dung, a member of staff at Gia Lam station.

Le Hai Long, who is in charge of Dongrim's marketing in Viet Nam, said the infrequency of trains and the unsociable time table had proved unpopular with customers. The Ha Long Express travelled between Ha Noi and Ha Long just once a day, departing the capital at 7am and returning from the port city at 3pm.

"Tourists only counted for a small number of customers. We had to rely on regular domestic commuters, most of whom preferred to take the bus, which runs every fifteen minutes and is quicker," Long said.

Despite its name, the Ha Long Express took five hours to travel from Ha Noi to Ha Long City – a journey a bus can do in 3 and a half hours.

The rail operator blamed the track. "The rail track that Viet Nam often uses is one metre wide, but this train uses 1.435-metre wide rails. So it has to follow the route where the track is wide enough, which entails travelling farther," Long said.

Nguyen Van Binh, vice director of the Ha Noi Railway Company, said greater investment was needed to make the luxury service more attractive to customers.

"We tried to attract foreign investment in order to get better use of the railroad and station facilities but the business was run independently by Dongrim."

The train's carriages were originally used to transport passengers on the Seoul underground. Binh's company was hired to refurbish the carriages for use in Viet Nam.

Binh said his company had tried and failed to get Dongrim to reopen the service.

"At the moment, the Viet Nam Railway Company does not plan to broaden the railroad to 1,435-metre-wide to meet the needs of the Ha Long Express," he said.

Dongrim's Long however said the company would try to reopen the service next February. "We are also thinking of opening another route to the central regions but will have to consider the plan carefully to ensure we can attract enough customers," he said. — VNS

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Train rams container truck in Hanoi

A train hit a container truck in Hanoi Sunday morning, but there were no casualties.

The train, carrying 234 passengers and coming from Ho Chi Minh City, hit the truck as the latter passed railway tracks at a crossing with automatic barriers.

Luu Van Ly, the 34-year-old truck driver, said he only noticed the signal of a train coming when the truck was about to cross the track.

Ly said the truck was too heavy, weighing more than 46 tons, so he could not do anything then.

No one was killed as the accident pushed the truck 15 meters further and collapsed the wall of a nearby café. The truck driver and his assistant were slightly injured.

The cabins of the truck and the locomotive were damaged heavily, as were the barriers and signs in the area.

Dinh Ngoc Son, the train's guard, said the train was running at around 30 kilometers per hour when it hit the truck.

Son said the train had just sped up after stopping for 18 minutes following a clash with a resident. Otherwise, the crash would have been much more severe, he said.

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Baby among 2 killed as landside derails train

The three cars derailed in Yen Bai Province after being hit by debris from a landslide

Photo: Tuoi Tre

A 55-year-old woman and a baby were killed and two others injured when three cars of a train going north from Hanoi to Lao Cai Monday derailed in Yen Bai Province after being hit by debris from a landslide.

The locomotive was thrown into a paddy field while the luggage and the power coaches also tumbled off the tracks after being hit by the debris in a remote mountain area just a kilometer before a station.

Khuong Thi Thinh, the deceased woman, and her nine-month-old grandchild Dinh Thu Phuong of Van Yen District, Yen Bai, were reportedly seated at the end of the car next to the luggage car and were thrown out of the train in the collision.

The train driver, Bui Van Them, and his assistant, Vu Duc Phuong, both of Hanoi, were slightly injured. Luckily, none of the other passengers were hurt.

The landslide was reportedly caused by torrential rains in the region.

A specialized crane has been brought to the area to recover the locomotive and two cars.

Another locomotive was dispatched to take the remaining cars with 460 passengers to Yen Bai. Everyone was given free tickets on trains to Hanoi and buses to Lao Cai.

The 300-kilometer Hanoi-Lao Cai route is considered to be the busiest in Vietnam with 10 pairs of passenger trains and 20 cargo trains traveling everyday, and 14-16 passenger trains during national holidays like Tet, the Lunar New Year.

Built in the early 20th century, it has badly deteriorating tracks and outdated signaling systems.

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Vietnam sets aside $153.9 mln to train nuclear power workforce

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a sum of VND3-trillion (US$153.9 million) to train and develop human resources for the atomic energy industry by 2020.

Under the project, Vietnam aims to train 2,400 engineers, and 350 master and doctorate holders for nuclear power.

Some of the trainees will be sent to study overseas.

Vietnam is now facing a dearth of human resources for nuclear science and technology, local news website, VnExpress, recently reported, quoting a survey by the Ministry of Education and Training as saying that, as of 2008, the country possesses 505 officials and scientists with relevant degrees.

Only 62, with an average age of 50-years-old, of them hold doctorates, while one-third of 12 professors and associate professors are between 60 and 62 years old, according to the news source.

In the meantime, Vietnam plans to build nuclear power plants with a total capacity of 15,000-16,000 megawatts in five provinces to meet 10 percent of the country’s total electricity demand in 2030, VnExpress cited a government project as saying.

The first plant is expected to break ground in the central province of Ninh Thuan in 2014 and to start operating in 2020 with a total investment of VND200 trillion ($10.2 billion), it said.

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Vietnam sets aside $153.9 mln to train nuclear power workforce

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a sum of VND3-trillion (US$153.9 million) to train and develop human resources for the atomic energy industry by 2020.

Under the project, Vietnam aims to train 2,400 engineers, and 350 master and doctorate holders for nuclear power.

Some of the trainees will be sent to study overseas.

Vietnam is now facing a dearth of human resources for nuclear science and technology, local news website, VnExpress, recently reported, quoting a survey by the Ministry of Education and Training as saying that, as of 2008, the country possesses 505 officials and scientists with relevant degrees.

Only 62, with an average age of 50-years-old, of them hold doctorates, while one-third of 12 professors and associate professors are between 60 and 62 years old, according to the news source.

In the meantime, Vietnam plans to build nuclear power plants with a total capacity of 15,000-16,000 megawatts in five provinces to meet 10 percent of the country’s total electricity demand in 2030, VnExpress cited a government project as saying.

The first plant is expected to break ground in the central province of Ninh Thuan in 2014 and to start operating in 2020 with a total investment of VND200 trillion ($10.2 billion), it said.

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Good Samaritan gets merit certificate

The man who saved a train driver after a railway accident on August 6 received a certificate of merit from the country’s railway administration Sunday.

Nguyen Quang Dai, 43, from the northern province of Ha Nam was awarded the certificate at his home by Khuat Minh Tri, labor union chairman of Vietnam Railways.

Earlier, directors of Hanoi Locomotive Factory also called on Dai to thank him and hand over some gifts.

Upon hearing the train crash near his home on August 6, Dai rushed to the scene and saved the life of driver Truong Xuan Thuc who was stuck in the dark locomotive bleeding copiously from life-threatening injuries. It took Dai two hours to save the driver.

As the driver was stuck in his chair and using a crane only worsened the situation, Dat borrowed tools from a nearby motorbike garage to remove nails and move the chair along with the driver.

Then he bit through the driver’s leather sandal thinking that using knife or other sharp impliments might end up with the driver losing his foot.

Nguyen Dinh Thong, director of Hanoi Locomotive Factory, said it would have been quicker to move Thuc out by amputating his legs, but Dai didn’t do that.

“And when people shouted that the train was going to catch fire, he was still industriously removing nails,” Thong was cited by the news website Vnexpress as saying Thursday.

“No one can neglect seeing a fellow creature crying for help. Many people in my position would have done the same thing,” Dai said.

Dai said he had first used a handkerchief on the train and pipe tobacco in his pocket to stop the bleeding.

“When I was a soldier, I saw many injuries and I’ve learnt that we should quickly stop the bleeding or it would be very dangerous,” Dai was cited by Vnexpress as saying.

On August 6, the north-south train almost hit a tipper truck crossing the railway and Thuc had hold the brake lever firmly. He lost one arm and saved the lives of more than 300 passengers. Drivers usually just moved the lever to one side, which would save them from severe injuries but not slow the train down as quickly, Thong said.

Thuc, who's worked 22 years for the railway, still travelled to work on a bicycle, unable to afford a motorbike, local news reports said.

Dai said he wishes the railway industry installs fences at every crossroads between the railway and residential roads.

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