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Eu Europe, on pointe du doigt les passages à niveau non sécurisés. Dans d’autres pays, le rapport au train est moins compliqué, à défaut d’être moins dangereux. Il en est ainsi du Vietnam, et notamment des habitants du quartier historique de Hanoi, qui « profitent » du train au cœur de la ville, comme le montrent ces photographies prises par Ashit Desai. Les trains cheminent au milieu des marchés, d’étroites ruelles habitées. Les rails sont un terrain de jeu comme un autre pour les enfants.

Tight space: A train squeezes past a shop display in the centre of Hanoi, Vietnam, while a man on a moped waits for the tracks to clear

C’est un peu étroit, mais ça passe.

Dangerous: A woman with a baby on her knee by the track. The line is so close to shops and homes that huge trains are forced to squeeze past market traders

Savoir aérer les enfants, c’est bien. Et qui sait, cela donnera peut-être des vocations professionnelles. Cheminot, un métier d’avenir.

Watching on: The route in the centre of Hanoi, Vietnam, cuts through tight streets in the city's old town district, heading to Long Bien Bridge

On the line: The track is so close to buildings that locomotives, which negotiate the line twice a day, brush past pedestrians and children playing in the street
Comme les rails jouxtent les maisons, ils deviennent naturellement une extension, une sorte de jardin urbain dont on profite quand le train n’est pas là. Deux fois par jour, les riverains déplacent leurs équipements, et certains étals en font de même.

Paying attention: Residents have to move out of the way and even dismantle shop displays when the train is approaching

Une fois que le train est passé, les habitants se réapproprient les rails. C’est leur routine quotidienne.

On camera: Ashit Desai, 54, of Bangalore, India, photographed the people who live next to the railway while he was on holiday in Vietnam's capital city

Unusual sight: The photographer said there are barbershops, people selling goods, chefs cooking food and kids running around - 'all within inches of the tracks'

Crossing: Mr Desai said the locals 'know when the train is coming so they all move out of the way - it is a part of their routine'

More safety measures required: Railway-related accidents account for 2 per cent of all deaths annually in Vietnam
Évidemment, c’est dangereux: les accidents du rail représentent 2% du total des morts accidentelles chaque année au Vietnam.
Cutting through: Many deaths occur at illegally-built crossings with no barriers or warning signs. There are an estimated 5,000 illegal railroad crossings in Vietnam

In place of a refreshments trolley: The Vietnamese government is currently seeking more than £1billion of investment to improve safety features on its railway

Knowing when to move: The photographer said that people sitting on the track move away when the time approaches four or six o'clock

Knowing the timetable: When the track is clear after a train has passed, local residents move back into the middle of the line
Transport connections: Some British observers might joke that it's the sort of location you would probably pay a premium for in London
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