Proposed high-speed rail speed is 350 km/h

On March 26, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chaired the second meeting of the Steering Committee for the construction and implementation of the investment policy project for the high-speed railway on the North-South axis and important national railway projects.

According to the report of the Ministry of Transport , the high-speed railway line with a design speed of 350 km/h will transport passengers and freight when needed; the existing railway line will be converted to serve freight transport.

Recently, the Ministry of Transport has coordinated with the General Statistics Office ( Ministry of Planning and Investment ) to assess the impact of the North-South High-Speed Railway Project on the economy, showing that the project can contribute about 1 percentage point of GDP growth each year in the period 2025-2037.

The Ministry of Transport and relevant agencies have also reviewed, updated and completed plans for capital mobilization, assessed the impact of public debt; human resource development projects; and developed orientations for the railway industry.

In addition to renovating and upgrading to effectively exploit existing railway lines, the Railway Project Management Board is also implementing investment preparation steps for projects under the criteria of national key projects: Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong route located on the East - West economic corridor; Ngoc Hoi (Thanh Tri, Hanoi) - Thach Loi (Dong Anh, Hanoi) connecting railway lines to the south and north; Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho connecting Ho Chi Minh City with the provinces of the Southwest; Thu Thiem - Long Thanh connecting Ho Chi Minh City with Long Thanh Airport; Bien Hoa - Vung Tau connecting the provinces of the Southeast with Ho Chi Minh City, seaports in the Cai Mep - Thi Vai area.

Policy - Proposed high-speed rail speed of 350 km/h — The second meeting of the Steering Committee for the construction and implementation of the investment policy project for the high-speed railway on the North-South axis (Photo: VGP).

Regarding difficulties and obstacles, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Danh Huy said that important national railway projects are large-scale, have complex technical standards, and pass through many localities, so they need to be carefully considered. Investment preparation takes a lot of time and requires close coordination between ministries, branches, and localities.

Railway projects bring great economic efficiency but project financial efficiency is not high, so the state budget needs to play a leading role and prioritize resource allocation for investment.

The domestic railway industry has not yet been able to produce vehicles, equipment, components and spare parts for railways in general.

Human resources have not yet accessed advanced management and technical skills; lack of railway experts.

According to Prof. Dr. La Ngoc Khue, former Deputy Minister of Transport, in addition to the goal of passenger transport, the high-speed railway must increase its market share in long-distance freight transport to reduce logistics costs; and "must definitely connect with international railways".

"Although inland waterway and sea transport have advantages in terms of cost, the time is long and loading and unloading is required many times, so this is a great opportunity for the railway industry to increase its market share in long-distance freight transport, improving the competitiveness of the economy," analyzed Professor, Dr. La Ngoc Khue.

Policy - Proposed high-speed rail speed is 350 km/h (Figure 2). — Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha concluded the meeting (Photo: VGP).

Agreeing with this opinion, Dr. Le Xuan Nghia said that in the future, carbon taxation will cause the cost of road, water and air transport to increase sharply, while this will be the advantage of long-distance rail transport.

Mr. Vuong Dinh Khanh - former Deputy General Director of Vietnam Railway Corporation proposed to carefully calculate the plan to convert the entire existing railway line to serve freight trains only; invest in the railway industry, especially manufacturing locomotives, carriages, etc., in parallel with the roadmap for implementing the high-speed railway project.

Meanwhile, Dr. Nguyen Van Phuc - former Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic Committee expressed, "Our technology and engineering still depend on external factors, so the proactive thing is the mechanism and policies to mobilize resources and make breakthroughs in the way of doing things."

Taking note of the opinions of experts and scientists, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that an industrialized and modernized country needs to develop high-speed railways to reduce logistics costs and improve the competitiveness of the economy in the current green transformation trend.

The Ministry of Transport needs to absorb, explain and clarify the opinions raised at the meeting, and complete the investment plan for high-speed railway lines to ensure synchronization and unification of standards and norms from design, infrastructure, vehicles, information systems, operations, etc.

"It is necessary to retain iconic central stations in large cities, while ensuring safe corridors by combining them with elevated and underground lines," the Deputy Prime Minister noted.

The Deputy Prime Minister also requested the Ministry of Transport to clarify the economic efficiency, technology, techniques and experience in operating high-speed railways combining passenger and cargo transport in the world; plans for capital mobilization, investment phases; models for organizing the management apparatus, synchronous and unified operation; plans for receiving and transferring techniques and technology to master and build the domestic railway industry .

Source