Passenger trains between south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Vietnam will have regular daily service starting on January 1, China's railway authorities said on Thursday.

The train will leave Nanning, Guangxi's capital, at 6:15 p.m. and arrive in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam, at 7 a.m. the next day. There will also be a train departing Hanoi at 8:30 p.m.. It reaches Nanning at 10:05 a.m. the next day.

The trains, which run daily, are operated by the Nanning Railway Bureau, said Chen Boshi, the bureau's director.

Chen said a regular passenger route would alleviate high demand from Vietnam's businessmen, laborers and students in Guangxi.

Currently, temporary passenger rail service from Nanning to Hanoi only runs on Tuesday and Saturday.

(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2008)