North-South Railway Line
The North-South railway, which the French often call the trans-Indochina railway, is the brainchild of Governor General Jean Marie Antoine de Lanessan (term 1891-1894). However, this idea became a reality under his successor Governor-General Paul Doumer (1897-1902).
He wanted to turn Indochina into a consumer market for French industry, and at the same time wanted to fully exploit the resources from this colony.
In order to finance the longest railway project outside of France, on his return to his homeland in 1898, Paul Doumer submitted to the French Parliament his ambitious plan to build railways including: the Trans-Eastern axis. Duong: Hanoi-Saigon, in which in the middle there is a branch line starting from Tan Ap in the direction of Tha Khet to open to Laos; the Hai Phong-Yunnan axis connects to the trans-Indochina axis in Hanoi; The axis My Tho-Can Tho-Mui Ca Mau and the axis Saigon-Phnom Penh-Thailand border, connecting a section with Singapore. The budget mobilized to implement this project is to issue a loan of 200 million francs paid in 75 years.
The construction of the northern section from Hanoi to Vinh started from 1900 to Vinh (Km321) on March 1, 1905. Due to the first world war, the work was interrupted for 15 years, it was not until 1920 that the works were rebuilt.
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Connecting cable car and railway at Xom Cu station in 1933 in Quang Binh. Photo: TL
The route to Tan Ap (Km410) was completed in 1927. And the Dong Ha route to Dong Hoi ended in January 1927. Shortly following, in October 1927, the remaining 112km long road from Dong Hoi to Tan Ap was completed. This event marks the continuity of the Bac Ky-Tan Ap-Trung Ky railway line and is also the rail junction of the Tonkin-Trung Ky circuit.
According to historian Fédéric Hulot, author of the book “French Railways in Indochina and Yunnan” described, “From Vinh to Dong Hoi, over nearly 200km, up the valley of Ngan Sau and then down, along the Nguong River. Now, following having crossed Khe Net pass by a double helix road.”(1).
And in the book “Geography-History of Quang Binh” by the late teacher Luong Duy Tam, described: “The train line throughout Indochina entered the territory of Quang Binh in Tan Ap. From Tan Ap to Lac Giao, it glides along the Gianh River valley. Crossing Nan source by Minh Le iron bridge, Son source by Phu Kinh iron bridge. South of Phuc Tu station, it runs along the national highway for a short distance. Then run to the southwest, cross the Long Dai River by another iron bridge. It ran out of the province following passing through My Son…” (2).
Tan Ap-Tha Khet railway line
The original idea of building a railway branch to Laos from the North-South route through Indochina was in Poul Doumer’s project from 1898 with the starting point from Quang Tri to Savannakhet (Laos).
At that time, due to the lack of financial capacity, the project was not implemented. In 1927, Governor General Alexandre Varenne started a survey to study the railway from Central Vietnam to Laos with the selected route as Tan Ap-Tha Khet instead of Paul Doumer’s original project.
In 1929, this route was conducted in Tan Ap and Xom Cua (Khe Ve), intended to be completed in 1936 to trade with Central Laos to exploit natural resources, minerals, opium… in the region. This is brought to the motherland.
However, “With the half-hearted politics of the Third Republic, the construction sites were never interrupted but also did not operate at a normal pace. The main thing is to create an illusion, and compromises have been found to mask the absurdity of work in the name of officially being “temporary” work. (3).
The work is concurrently constructed in two sections: The first section from Tan Ap, Huong Hoa (Tuyen Hoa) to Xom Cua is 18km long railway with 4 stations including Tan Ap (Km0), Xom Danh (Thanh Thach Km5,51). , Thanh Lang (Thanh Hoa Km9,273) and Xom Cua (Khe Ve Km18). The route has 2 tunnels at Thanh Lang 334.32m long, Xom Gi 70.38m long and 2 iron bridges.
The second part is from Xom Cua to Banaphao village. In this section, due to the rugged terrain, high slope, the construction of the railway line is not feasible, so the option of making the cable car is chosen instead. The capital source for the cable car project is the German war fee compensation paid to France, the contractor Heckel in Sarrebruk (Germany) was selected for construction.
Not only difficulties in terrain, weather, technology and equipment, but also lack of investment capital, so in September 1932, the French government ordered to suspend the laying of railway tracks when it had just started.
But “for fear of the reaction of the workers who lost their jobs cruelly, the authorities changed their mind and the section from Tan Ap to Xom Chua was finally put into operation on September 13, 1933 so that each There is only one train a day consisting of a fourth-class passenger car and two freight cars.”(4).
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Tan Ap Station. Photo: TL
The cable car route connecting Xom Cua to Banaphao village through Mu Gia pass was 39km long, considered the longest cable car route in the world at that time. This route has 7 stops including Xom Cua, Cha Mac (Y Leng), Xom Man, Bai Dinh, Pou Toc Vou, Mu Gia and Banaphao. The cable car route, also known as the “airway road”, consists of a system of 12m high reinforced concrete pillars, a cable car and a winch rotating shaft.
The operation route starts with the use of improved railcars mounted on rails starting at the station on the front foot. From the first point is Tan Ap station to Xom Cu station. From Xom station, the cable car department will transfer boxes of goods from the land railway to the two-way cable car to go to Banaphao station.
According to old documents, the Tan Ap-Tha Khet route must pass an altitude of 400m, including dozens of bridges and 5 tunnels, the longest tunnel is 650m. This unique railway still has traces in the mountainous western region of Quang Binh.
At the final point of Banapao, goods are transported by road to Tha Khet (Laos) 187km from Tan Ap. This cable car route officially went into operation on December 18, 1933, but the efficiency was not high because of the harsh weather, difficult terrain, and the maintenance and repair costs were too high.
In 1940 alone, it carried only 6,000 tons of cargo. That number partly proves the economic benefits that this project brings. At the same time, in the early 1930s, the 16km-long western section of Tha Khet-Pha Vang was completed.
Between 1933-1937, the Tha Khet-Bananphao railway was restarted many times and conceived ideas for the Xom Cu-Banaphao railway, but all were suspended. In October 1937, the French decided to cancel the Xom Cua-Tha Khet project. In the years 1942-1945, the railway was once once more started but was canceled.
After the second world war, the entire roadbed, bridge, tunnel of this route was completed, only the rails were laid, but it was completely suspended. The cancellation led to the delay of another project in Indochina. After 1945, this route was always destroyed by the Viet Minh and completely damaged in 1947.
In order to mobilize human resources for the construction of the road, the French colonialists forced and forced the number of local laborers and the surrounding areas. It is the exploitation and exhaustive exploitation of cheap labor resources, together with extremely austere eating and living conditions, deprivation, rudimentary means of work, and constant threatening labor accidents… caused countless innocent people to have to abandon their bodies in the wilderness. The tragic image of the wife’s fate is still preserved through the poem “Behold, the blood of the ancestors is dyed red / The ink of the country’s beer is still black” (“Riding the car from Nghe to the North”, Huynh Thuc Khang).
The North-South railway line currently being exploited is the successor of the Indochina railway legacy left by France. The epic regarding the history of the development of Vietnam’s railway industry was written with the blood, sweat, tears and lives of many people who have forever remained on the roads that pass through Quang Binh is one of the most important. History is soaked with many tragic events.
1, 3, 4 . Fédéric Hulot, French Railways in Indochina, Nguyen Van Truong, Nguyen Van Hap (translated), Social Science Publishing House, Hanoi, 2021, p.151, p.167 and p.168.
2. Luong Duy Tam, Geography – History of Quang Binh, Quang Binh General Museum published in 1998, pp.80-81.
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