Transport Minister Dinh La Thang has urged the State-owned VietnamRailways Corporation (VNR) to drastically renovate its operations inorder to stay competitive with other forms of public transport.

At a recent conference launching tasks for the corporation, MinisterThang pointed out the fact that the railway construction is laggingbehind schedule, while advanced technology has not been applied inselling tickets and patrolling railroads.

The firm reportedthat in 2013, the volume of its passengers was equal to that of 2012.The number of short-distance travellers rose 15 – 20 percent, but thefigure of long-distance ones fell.

Pham Van Son, Deputy GeneralDirector of VNR’s affiliate Saigon Railway Passenger Transport Company,said to improve performance, his firm will undertake more marketresearch, enlarge the ticket selling network, adjust ticket prices toreflect the market change and raise the service quality.

TranNgoc Thanh, head of the VNR’s board of executives, said they will speedup technology application in 2014. Notably, cutting edge technology willbe employed to sell ticket online from August.

The sector aims at increases of 3 percent in passenger and goods volumes and 5 percent in revenue this year.-VNA