Mountain train from Sa Pa to Fansipan station opens

Muong Hoa, Vietnam’s longest mountain rail route developed by Sun Group, was opened on March 31, connecting Sa Pa Town and the existing cable station to Fansipan Peak.
Mountain train from Sa Pa to Fansipan station opens ảnh 1Muong Hoa, Vietnam’s longest mountain rail route developed by Sun Group, opens on March 31 (Photo: reatimes.vn)​
 
Lao Cai (VNA) – Muong Hoa, Vietnam’s longest mountain rail route developed by SunGroup, was opened on March 31, connecting Sa Pa Town and the existing cablestation to Fansipan Peak.

The 2km railroute starts from MGallery Hotel in Sa PaTown and ends at the cable station to Fansipan Peak, promising a spectacularjourney for tourists.

The two-carriage train can travel at a maximumspeed of 10m per second and serve up to 2,000 guests per hour.

Mountain train from Sa Pa to Fansipan station opens ảnh 2The Muong Hoa rail route starts from MGallery Hotel in Sa Pa Town and ends at the cable station to Fansipan Peak. (Photo: VNA)

It will shorten tourists’ travel time from 20minutes by car over risky mountainous roads to four minutes by train throughvalleys, viaducts and tunnels offering beautiful views of surrounding villagesas well as nature.

The two carriages were designed and produced bySwiss company Garaventa. Each carriage is 20m in length and 3m wide, weighs 25tonnes and can carry 200 passengers at once.

The carriage has classic European interiors withantique lights, ceiling fans and huge glass windows.

Mountain train from Sa Pa to Fansipan station opens ảnh 3Inside the train on Muong Hoa rail route. (Photo: VNA)

At the Muong Hoa Cable Station, tourists willcontinue to take the cable route over Hoang Lien Son range to reach FansipanPeak, the top of Indochina, at a height of 3,143m.

The new rail route and the world’s most modernthree-rope cable car system, Fansipan Sapa, measuring 6,292.5m in length -which was opened to the public on February 2, 2016 - will complete service atthe Sun World Fansipan Legend tourism complex.

Located 350km northwest of Hanoi, Sa Pa town in thenorthern mountainous province of Lao Cai is 1,600m above sea level. The town isdominated by the Hoang Lien Son mountain range which features Indochina’shighest mountain of Fansipan at 3,142 m above sea level.

Sa Pa has many natural scenic sites such as Ham Rong Mountain, Thac Bac (SilverWaterfall), Cau May (Rattan Bridge), Bamboo Forest and Ta Phin Cave. The hilltown is home to six main ethnic minority groups, including Kinh, Hmong, Dao,Tay, Day and Xa Pho with various traditional festivals and unique culturalpractices, especially the Bac Ha market and Sa Pa love market.

Theresort town was recognised as a national tourism site in December 2017. - VNA
VNA

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