The tickets for trains, scheduled to run between January 25 and February 25 next year, can be purchased online at www.dsvn.vn, vietnamrailway.vn and vetau.com.vn, or at the train stations of the concerned railway sector.

Passengers are not allowed to buy more than four online one-way tickets at a time, the Tien phong (Vanguard) newspaper reported.

Between September 25 and September 30, about 20 percent of the tickets will be sold to passengers travelling in groups.

During Tet, five pairs of Thong Nhat trains will run every day. Six additional pairs of Thong Nhat trains, running from Ho Chi Minh City to Ha Noi and vice versa, will be mobilised to handle the high passenger traffic, the VNR said.

Thong Nhat trains are expected to offer 12,000 seats per day during the holiday.

The VNR has also added pre-Tet and post-Tet routes from Vinh city in the central Nghe An province to Ho Chi Minh City, and from the central Thanh Hoa province to Ho Chi Minh City.

On September 1, a new e-ticket system became operational, which allows passengers to choose their seats, and pay for them anytime and from anywhere, without having to buy the tickets at the station.

The new method is aimed at easing overcrowding at train stations, especially ahead of national holidays.