A month since barriers were put up to prevent visitors to the area, cafe owners have managed to guide their customers to their railside businesses.

Speaking with Dantri/Dtinews on October 26, a police officer in Hang Bong Ward said that visitors were still taken to cafes along the street through small lanes.

"We’ve arranged some barricades and checkpoints at two ends of the streets but cafe owners have found other ways to guide their customers," the police officer said.

Tourists are still seen walking along the railway or having coffee at the shops along the track. Many cafes are still very crowded with tourists.

Chairman of Hang Bong Ward People's Committee, Nguyen Vu Linh, said that after hearing about visitors coming to the banned area, they have sent teams to install more checkpoints.

"We're facing more difficulties when cafe owners are trying to continue their practice," the official said. "We'll continue to tighten rules and ask travel companies not to take tourists to this area."

Train street, which attracts lots of visitors, was closed again in mid-September and all the cafes had their licenses revoked following rail safety concerns from the Vietnam Railway Authority.

However, owners of coffee shops along the train street in Hanoi later sent a group letter asking for local authorities to allow them to continue to operate. They expressed the hope that local authorities would not eliminate the popular tourist spot.

According to these businessmen, they are mostly retired railway staff and were given apartments in the buildings along the railway between 1965 and 1974.

"Right after moving here, we saw many foreign tourists coming to our house's veranda waiting to watch the passing trains," the letter said. "They talked about it and shared the photos on many travel forums, making this place famous. We decided to open coffee shops to serve the rising number of visitors."

The residents said they really hoped that local authorities would have suitable measures to make this place a safe tourist attraction and at the same time ensure regular business activities for local people.

Hanoi police have placed barriers on the street since September 14 following an announcement on the temporary closure of all coffee shops in the area.

There are more than 30 coffee shops along the two-kilometre street which starts from Le Duan, goes through Tran Phu and Cua Dong and ends at Phung Hung Street.

Source: Dtinews