Tran Ngoc Thanh, who was appointed chairman of Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR) in April 2015, has submitted his resignation to the Ministry of Transport (MoT).

The reason for his resignation, which has not been approved by the ministry, has not been disclosed.

Earlier, the MoT had planned to move him to the post of deputy head of the Disaster Prevention, Search and Rescue Commission.

At the time of submitting his resignation, Thanh had four more years of service until he reach the retirement age according to current regulations.

Vu Anh Minh, head of the enterprise management department, is expected to replace Thanh.

Prior to working at the corporation, Thanh had several years of experience working in the transport sector and served as head of the Transport Department at the MoT.

During his three years working at the corporation, Thanh contributed to revamping the business operation by implementing the electronic train ticket system, improving the quality of some service trains and restructuring transportation activities.

However, under his leadership, there were also some controversial projects in the railway sector, such as the purchase of old carriages from China.

Earlier, in February, the Transport Ministry said it was considering disciplinary action against Thanh for failing to direct investment research activities according to government policy.

An inspection by the ministry found that VNR, Hanoi Railway Transport Company and related agencies had conducted a survey related to the purchase of old train carriages without permission from the prime minister or the Transport Ministry. 

VNS