Da Lat–Thap Cham railway

[3] A proposed renewal project, backed by provincial and local governments, aims to restore the entire Đà Lạt–Tháp Chàm railway to handle both passenger and simple light cargo transportation.

[4] It is currently believed that the central government will need to fund the project in its entirety, due to the economics of running a tourist train line.

The Da Lat–Thap Cham railway was an adaptation of plans devised by Paul Doumer during his tenure as Governor-General of French Indochina from 1897 to 1902.

[6] Doumer's plans were adapted, however, to provide a railway link connecting Da Lat and Tháp Chàm in Ninh Thuận Province, at a cost of 200 million francs.

Although the following section, from Sông Pha to Eo Gio (Bellevue), was only 10 km (6.2 mi) long on a map, its steep grade (120‰) required the use of a rack and pinion system.

From Đơn Dương to Tram Hanh (Arbre Broyé), another length of rack rails was laid, this time with a grade of 115‰ and with a more meandering route than previously; this section was completed in 1930.

The remaining distance from Tram Hanh to Da Lat was said to be the most difficult, as it crossed the Lam Vien Plateau, 1,500 m (4,900 ft) above sea level.

[1] After the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975, the Communist government of the newly unified Vietnam took control of the former South Vietnamese railway.

[1] In the 1990s, a 7 km (4.3 mi) section of the line between Da Lat station and the nearby village of Trại Mát was restored and returned to active use as a tourist attraction.

The project would also include a connection to the North–South railway at Tháp Chàm, allowing trains to circulate between Da Lat and the rest of the country for the first time since the Vietnam War.

[3] Da Lat station, built in 1938, was designed in Art Deco style by French architects Moncet and Reveron, although it incorporates the high, pointed roofs characteristic of the Cao Nguyen communal buildings of Vietnam's Central Highlands.

CFI initially purchased five HG 4/4-type[nb 2] locomotives in 1924 from Swiss manufacturer SLM Winterthur (German: Schweizerische Lokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik).

The locomotives were transferred to a Vietnamese railway company, Vietnam Hoa Xa, after the dissolution of French Indochina; the serial numbers remained the same, but with VHX rather than CFI as a prefix.