Vietnam to install automatic ticket gates at major train stations

The upgrade is meant to provide customers with better and friendlier service, as well as to ensure security at these stations, according to the state-run Vietnam Railways, which manages the country’s north-to-south train route.

At the Hanoi station, there will be six lanes with ten automatic ticket gates to serve passengers, whereas the terminal in Da Nang will have two lanes and three gates, and Ho Chi Minh City, three lanes and five gates.

Passengers can scan their printed or electronic tickets at these automatic ticket gates to enter platforms for boarding their trains.

As the technology is quite new to some Vietnamese passengers, attendants will be on duty that those three stations to provide help, especially to the elderly, the disabled or pregnant women.

At many railway stations, namely Lao Cai, Hai Phong, Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa, Vinh, Dong Hoi, Hue, Nha Trang, and Dieu Tri, passengers now have to present their tickets before entering the check-in gates, instead of showing the tickets to the attendants before boarding.

There will be waiting areas in front of check-in gates for relatives, friends, or people coming to the stations to pick up or say goodbye to the passengers.

The new rule spares train attendants from checking passenger tickets again before they enter the train cars.

Upon boarding, any on-board passengers suspected of not having proper tickets or having no tickets will be checked by the train attendants.