The famous scenes of life taking place on Vietnam’s train tracks may soon be a thing of the past now that a plan to remove illegal shops and homes has been approved by the Prime Minister.
Many of these dwellings sit barely a meter from the train tracks so, while they make for spectacular images, they also pose major safety issues.
The government has ordered the Directorate for Roads to co-operate with localities to remove all illegal buildings and to submit plans to evict and compensate those who are moved.
In addition, the Ministry of Transport's rail management agency has been instructed to overhaul the safety mechanisms at rail crossings across the country by 2017.
[VNS // Photo via Ashit Desai]
