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Compared to sea transport, rail transport has an advantage in transport time from Vietnam to Russia; while the cost is significantly lower than by air. Therefore, railway is considered to be a suitable choice for groups of goods that require good preservation and stable delivery times such as cosmetics, electronics, garments and processed agricultural products. Download International freight transport routes by rail from Vietnam to other countries and vice versa. Photo: Ratraco Vietnam Railway Corporation (VNR) said that Vietnam and the Russian Federation are currently both members of the Organization for Railway Cooperation (OSJD). VNR and Russian Railways Joint Stock Company (RZD) also participate in many international agreements on rail freight transport and transit fares. Since 2015, VNR and RZD have signed a cooperation agreement to develop international rail transport, aiming to increase cargo output on routes passing through the territories of Vietnam and Russia. Currently, the two sides continue to coordinate to find solutions to promote intermodal freight transport by rail between the two countries. In recent years, VNR has proactively expanded international cooperation to develop the Vietnam - Russia transport route. Since 2018, VNR has cooperated with RZD Logistics; in 2024, sign an agreement with FESCO to deploy multimodal transport combining sea and rail, and develop full-circuit transport by rail. In addition, VNR also cooperates with international logistics businesses such as PEK Logistics and U-Lines Logistics in freight transport, express delivery and container management in Vietnam. Goods transported by Vietnam-Russia railway increase by nearly 40% in 2025Thanks to expanding international cooperation, the The intermodal freight transport route between Vietnam and Russia has recently been exploited more and more effectively on many important corridors such as Vietnam - China - Kazakhstan - Russia, Vietnam - China - Mongolia - Russia and Vietnam - China - Russia. Through these routes, goods from Vietnam are transported to many large logistics centers of the Russian Federation such as Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk. From here, goods continue to be connected by rail to third countries, including many European markets. RELATED NEWS Railway tests AI technology robots to serve passengers on trains. More than 80 consulting units want to participate in the super project of the North-South high-speed railway. Proposed more than 8,300 billion VND to handle 18 black spots at railway crossings. Main export items from Vietnam include textiles, electronics, agricultural products and food. products; while the import direction focuses on chemicals, fertilizers and raw materials for industrial production. According to VNR, in 2025, the total output of goods transported between Vietnam and Russia will reach 688.3 thousand tons, an increase of 38% compared to 2024. Of which, the volume of goods transported by rail from Vietnam transiting China to third countries will reach 25.2 thousand tons; The Russian market alone reached about 77.9 thousand tons, while imports reached about 51.9 thousand tons. Although recording positive growth, VNR believes that current output is still modest compared to the trade potential between the two countries. One of the main reasons is the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which caused many Russian banks to be excluded from the SWIFT payment system, causing difficulties for international payment activities and affecting the ability to expand transport as well as trade cooperation. In addition, technical infrastructure between countries is still a significant challenge for international intermodal transport. Currently, Vietnams railway gauge is 1,000 mm, Chinas is 1,435 mm and Russias is 1,520 mm, causing goods to have to be transferred many times at intermodal border gates. This increases costs, prolongs transportation time and affects the efficiency of the entire route. Download A train runs from Yen Vien Station to Russia. Photo: RatracoFreight transport space is still very large. According to VNR, the two sides are trying to find solutions to overcome the above difficulties in order to increase intermodal freight transport output by 20% next year. At the Joint Working Group meeting between VNR and RZD taking place in mid-May 2026, the two sides assessed this goal as completely feasible, especially in the context that import-export turnover between Vietnam and the Russian Federation remains at about 5 billion USD per year, creating significant room for freight transport by rail to develop. This prospect is further reinforced when the process of restructuring the Asia-Europe supply chain is taking place strongly, leading to increasing demand for stable, efficient and less volatile transport corridors. Compared to sea, rail transport has an advantage in transit time from Vietnam to Russia; while the cost is significantly lower than by air. With these advantages, railways are considered to be a suitable choice for commodity groups that require good preservation and stable delivery times such as cosmetics, electronics, garments and processed agricultural products. According to VNR, to realize growth goals and effectively exploit the potential of freight transport between Vietnam and Russia, priority should be given to optimizing international intermodal transport corridors. In that, the focusis to build a close coordination mechanism between Vietnam - China - Russia to harmonize customs and border procedures, thereby shortening waiting times at border stations. In parallel, establishing specialized container trains with fixed schedules and preferential fare policies is considered an important solution to create stability for transport activities. VNR also proposed strengthening connections between large Russian corporations in the fields of coal, wood, and fertilizer with Vietnamese enterprises producing and exporting agricultural products, textiles,
