Apart from the E1 flagship, the Reunification Express, other trains ply the main route between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The S1 is also a fast train, almost on a par with the E1, but stops at more stations, and is second in line for new rolling stock. The S1 has the same range of accommodation and facilities as the E1, but is a bit cheaper and an hour or two slower.

Other trains serve local centres, and are very slow, as they have to wait in sidings for the expresses to pass on the single-track main line. The quality of these local trains is proportionately lower, but they are a popular means of travel for Vietnamese people, especially those engaged in trade with heavy and/or bulky loads to transport from place to place. Although the loads they carry take up space and make the crowded carriages even more congested, other passengers willingly help them to manoeuvre their goods through the windows of the train.

The express trains, and some of the local trains, have ‘refreshment’ carriages, but these serve a very restricted range of drinks, and seem to serve only as a place to sit and talk, smoke and drink coffee or tea.

In a few places, local trains use branch lines to serve other centres, but they are principally for freight. The daily train from Hanoi to Bai Chai, the western part of Ha Long City, for example, stops at every station and takes seven hours to complete the 180km journey, a distance that can easily be covered in less than three hours by car. Nevertheless, it is usually crowded with Vietnamese people transporting (smuggled?) goods to sell in Hanoi.