Vietnam reports another train derailment

A compartment of a cargo train departing from Vietnam's Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City derailed on Monday evening in central Nghe An province, causing no casualties but paralyzing the country's north-south railway for four hours, the Vietnam Railways Corporation said on Tuesday.

One compartment of the cargo train coded SBN1 derailed in Dien Chau district, which damaged some 700 meters of rails, and affected normal operation of over 20 trains.

On Feb 14, two compartments of a 13-compartment passenger train departing from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City derailed in southern Dong Nai province, causing no casualties but paralyzing the north-south railway for more than four hours, and forcing hundreds of passengers to use automobiles to continue their journey to the southern city.

The state-owned corporation has recently installed surveillance cameras at locomotives of trains to timely give warnings when they approach rail sections which cross roads.

Vietnam's railway sector transported 500,000 passengers in January, posting a year-on-year decline of 7.5 percent, and 500,000 tons of cargoes, down 6 percent, according to the country's General Statistics Office.