Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi has just sent a document to the Ministry of Transport (MOT) to comment on the high-speed railway investment policy project on the North - South axis.
Accordingly, the Ministry of Construction agreed to invest in high-speed railways on the North - South axis according to scenario 3.
Specifically, the Ministry of Construction agreed to build a new North-South railway according to the double-track scenario, rail gauge 1.435mm, load capacity of 22,5 tons/axle, operate passenger trains and reserve for cargo when needed. , design speed 350km/h.
Total project investment capital according to scenario 3 is about 68,98 billion USD. In case of immediate investment in infrastructure, equipment, and facilities to serve the operation of North-South freight trains, the project investment capital is about 71,69 billion USD.
With this scenario, the North-South high-speed railway is completely renewed with 60% bridges, 10% tunnels, and 30% running on ground.
The entire line has 23 passenger stations, 5 assembly, repair and maintenance areas, 40 infrastructure maintenance facilities, 5 freight stations, 4 depots, 28 km of station connection lines to operate freight trains when goods are needed. exceed mining capacity.
The project needs to purchase 74 distributed power trains, with 1.184 cars, train capacity to meet 175 pairs of trains/day and night (high-speed railway 150 pairs of trains, existing railway 25 pairs of trains). transporting about 133,5 million passengers/year and 20 million tons of goods/year.
Although it is agreed to invest in the North-South high-speed railway project according to scenario 3, the Ministry of Construction believes that the investment project does not clearly demonstrate the upgrading and modernization of the existing North-South railway. What a miserable road.
“With the trend of integration and ensuring international intermodal requirements in future operations, the Ministry of Transport needs to research to upgrade and modernize the existing North-South railway in the direction of replacing the entire track gauge. 1.000mm is currently equal to the standard size of 1.435mm" - the document of the Ministry of Construction stated.
In addition, the North-South high-speed railway project has a length of 1.545km, passing through 20 provinces and cities, while the provinces are formulating and approving regional and provincial plans...
Along with the increasing speed of urbanization, situations may arise that change the design alignment of the high-speed railway on the North - South axis, leading to the need to adjust the volume of works leading to changes. total investment of the project.
Therefore, the Ministry of Construction requested the Ministry of Transport to coordinate with localities where the project passes through to ensure that the results of the alignment agreement are maintained.
The Ministry of Construction also noted that with investment costs for the North-South railway reaching tens of billions of dollars, to ensure the feasibility of the project, the Ministry of Transport needs to supplement legal bases to propose a preliminary total capital. invest.
In addition to scenario 3, the remaining two scenarios are being consulted by the Ministry of Transport for members of the Steering Committee to develop and implement a high-speed railway investment policy project on the North - South axis and railway projects. of national importance, including:
Scenario 1, building a new double-track North-South railway, rail gauge 1.435mm, length 1.545km, design speed 350km/h, axle load 17 tons/axle, exclusively exploiting passenger trains.
At the same time, upgrade and renovate the existing North-South railway to transport goods, tourists and short-distance passengers. Total investment capital is about 67,32 billion USD.
Scenario 2, building a new North-South railway, double track, 1.435mm rail gauge, load of 22,5 tons/axle, joint operation of both passenger and freight trains, design speed of about 200 - 250km /h, maximum freight train speed of 120km/h.
At the same time, modernize the existing North-South railway to transport goods, tourists and short-distance passengers. Total investment capital is about 72,02 billion USD.
