Hanoi (VNA) - The recovery of the railway transportation system still faces numerous challenges amidst fierce competition from road and air transport. In the coming time, the Vietnam Railway (VNR) is set to mobilise resources, innovate operational methods, strive for profitability, and prepare for investment for North-South express railway. According to VNR General Director Hoang Gia Khanh, in 2024, the parent company aims for revenue of 6.258 trillion VND (nearly 255 million USD), equivalent to 100.18%, with a transport volume increase of approximately 7.3% compared to the same period. After-tax profit is targeted at 5 trillion VND (roughly 204 million USD), marking an 11.1% increase compared to the same period last year. Outlining the development strategy for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision towards 2035, VNR commits to playing a pivotal role in the mission to develop the railway industry. The focus will be on railway production and business, mobilising all resources to invest in vehicles, machinery, equipment, infrastructure, workforce training, operational innovation, and efficient management to meet the operational needs of the existing national railway lines, as well as the newly invested and constructed national railway segments. In the production and business plan for the 2021-2025 period, VNR aims to achieve a consolidated total revenue of 39.544 trillion VND (over 1.6 billion USD). The parent company's revenue is targeted at 26.190 trillion VND (more than 1.07 billion USD), with an average annual growth rate in the 2024-2025 period striving for 4.7%. VNR's pre-tax profit for the 2023-2025 period is projected to be 327 billion VND (13.3 million USD). Regarding the preparations for the North-South express railway investment, Khanh stated that VNR actively engages in exchanges with railway authorities from China, Algeria, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Korea, Japan, as well as organisations like the International Union of Railways (UIC), Organisation for Co-operation between Railways (OSJD). This is aimed at gathering insights into experiences, organisational models, investment, operation, and management of express railways. Khanh shared that the consolidated total revenue for 2023 reached over 8.5 trillion VND (over 346 million USD), equivalent to 101.7% of the annual plan, with after-tax profit of 94.8 billion VND (nearly 3.9 million USD), representing 115% of the annual plan. With flexible government management, domestic tourism activities have rebounded, leading to significant growth in the market share of passenger rail transport. The capacity of running trains on the North-South railway line has improved. However, Khanh acknowledged the challenges in the railway transport recovery. Passenger transport faces challenges due to continued competition with air and road transport in terms of ticket prices, transportation time, and convenience. Freight transport experiences changes in cargo flow structure, reducing the market share of rail freight. Transportation capacity is limited, constrained by both line and station capacity. The national railway network lacks uniformity in gauge, and the scale of stations does not meet the requirements for running trains with large lengths and high loads, limiting operational speed. In 2023, VNR implemented various measures to increase production and transport revenue, such as maximising train running capacity, proactively setting flexible ticket prices, conducting attractive promotional programmes, and focusing on improving service quality to attract customers./.