Hanoi Train Street

Hanoi Train Street is a narrow alley in the Old Quarter where an active railway line, built in 1902, runs just feet from houses and cafes. About seven trains pass daily between 7 AM and 11 PM. Vietnamese authorities shut down cafe access in October 2019 after overcrowding forced a train to reroute, citing safety. The street reopened to tourists in early 2023 under stricter rules: visitors now watch from café seating set back from the rails rather than standing on the tracks themselves.

Hanoi Train Street follows a stretch of railway built by French colonists in 1902, running through the Old Quarter along an alley near 224 Le Duan Street, between Phung Hung and Dien Bien Phu streets. Homes sit almost against the tracks, and railway families have lived along the line since 1956. The spot became a magnet for photos of trains passing at close range, which led officials to close cafe access in October 2019 after crowding forced an emergency reroute. It reopened to visitors in early 2023 with tighter safety rules: guests stay inside café seating, staff clear furniture as trains near, and each cafe posts the daily schedule of roughly seven passing trains.