Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan Railway Project: New turning point

An unfinished railway bridge under construction in Bac Ninh area. Photo: Huu Nghi

Change of Function

The Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan Railway Project, the railway infrastructure project with the most tragic fate ever, is having new movements.

At the end of last week, the Ministry of Construction sent a dispatch to the Prime Minister reporting on the implementation process as well as the "new status" of the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway line in case it is allowed to restart by competent authorities.

It should be added that the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan Railway Project was approved for investment by the Prime Minister in Document No. 75/CP-CN, dated January 9, 2004, using government bond capital. The project has a total length of 131 km, starting at Yen Vien station and ending at Cai Lan port with a total investment of 7,663 billion VND.

The project is divided into 4 independent sub-projects and started in 2008, expected to be completed in 2011. According to the design, this new railway line uses a hybrid track (including 1,435 mm and 1,000 mm gauge), uses welded rails, has a modern signal information system and different level intersections with national highways to achieve a speed of 120 km/h for passenger trains and 80 km/h for freight trains.

If this route is completed, the journey by passenger train from Ha Long to Yen Vien will only take 1.5 - 2 hours; by freight train it will take 3 - 4 hours, thereby creating an additional method of transporting passengers and goods in large volumes, at low cost, safely and environmentally friendly on the Hanoi - Quang Ninh transport corridor.

Due to being included in the list of projects that must be postponed or delayed according to the policy of cutting public investment in Resolution No. 11/2011/NQ-CP, dated February 24, 2011 of the Government, the project has been in a state of "paralysis" since 2014 until now, with disbursed capital of 4,322 billion VND, reaching 56% of the total investment approved by the Government.

At the time of suspension, Sub-project 1 was allocated capital to complete construction, hand over and put into operation in 2014; Sub-project 2 had completed 2 packages for procurement of goods (rails, sleepers), constructed 30 km of roadbed (11 km completed, 19 km unfinished), basically completed 9/12 bridges, 35/45 underpasses for people and 83/140 culverts; Sub-project 3 had completed 3 packages for procurement of goods (rails, sleepers), renovated 15 km of old railway and 4 weak bridges on the route; Sub-project 4 had not been implemented because it was in the survey and design stage.

Although it took more than 10 years to restart, the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway is still considered an important railway infrastructure project on the Hanoi - Quang Ninh transport corridor.

In Conclusion No. 49-KL/TW on the development orientation of Vietnam's railways to 2030, with a vision to 2045, the Politburo requested continued investment to complete the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway line by 2030. In addition, the Railway Network Planning for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050, also determined to invest in this railway line in the period up to 2030.

“This is the important political and legal basis to reactivate the completion process of the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway project, the route connecting the two sides of the Red River Delta development triangle, Hanoi and Quang Ninh,” the leader of the Ministry of Construction assessed.

It is known that recently, the Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction) has directed the Railway Project Management Board to urgently review and focus on removing existing problems and completing the dossier to adjust the project investment policy as a basis for continued implementation.

According to the Vietnam Railway Authority, at the time of project establishment, the forecasted transportation demand was mainly for goods, attracting goods from the Yunnan region (China) connecting to Cai Lan port, Quang Ninh province (planned as a deep-water port, a seaport hub in the Northern region).

Up to now, the socio-economic development planning and seaport system have had many changes, accordingly the development orientation of the seaport in Hai Phong area (Lach Huyen port) is the international gateway port in the North, while Cai Lan port has been converted in function towards developing a seaport urban area, no longer a major cargo hub for the railway as the original goal.

On the other hand, the orientation of national and local sector planning shows that the corridor connecting the localities of Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Hai Duong, and Quang Ninh has many cultural heritages and tourist areas, so the demand for passenger transport is large; the forecast results on the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan route also show that the demand for passenger transport is higher and the demand for goods transport is lower than before.

“Thus, the function of the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan Railway Project has changed significantly towards mainly passenger transport,” said Mr. Tran Thien Canh, Director of the Vietnam Railway Authority.

Investment scenario becomes clearer

It is known that the plan to restart the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan Railway Project has also been agreed upon by the Railway Project Management Board and the Ministry of Construction to submit to competent authorities for consideration and approval.

Accordingly, for Sub-project 4, Yen Vien - Lim section, which coincides with the planning of the Hanoi - Dong Dang railway line, which is currently a single track with a combined gauge of 1,435 mm and 1,000 mm, the Ministry of Construction assessed that it still meets the requirements for exploitation and does not need investment.

For Sub-projects 2 and 3, the Ministry of Construction proposed to continue building a new section of Lim - Pha Lai to open the route and upgrade and renovate the old section of Pha Lai - Ha Long, ensuring the connection from Yen Vien to Cai Lan port as the original target.

At the same time, due to the lack of demand for single-track 1,000 mm gauge, the Ministry of Construction proposed to study the adjustment from single-track dual-track to single-track standard-track 1,435 mm gauge; the purchased materials will be used for the project, the remaining part (if any) will be handed over to Vietnam Railways Corporation to serve the maintenance of existing national railway lines.

Research shows that the total investment required for the above plan is about 5,560 billion VND. Thus, considering the volume previously implemented, the preliminary total investment cost of the project is about 9,989 billion VND (an increase compared to the initial total investment of about 2,326 billion VND).

According to the leaders of the Ministry of Construction, the suspension and postponement of the project is due to objective reasons according to Resolution No. 11/NQ-CP and Directive No. 1792/CT-TTg, dated October 15, 2011 of the Prime Minister.

The project has also been inspected by the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (now the Ministry of Finance) and the State Audit Office has audited the investment management and capital use. Basically, the problems arising from the suspension and extension have been resolved and handled by the former Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction).

“The plan to continue investing to put the project into operation has been approved by the competent authority and the Ministry of Construction has also reported the capital investment needs in the period of 2026 - 2030 to the Ministry of Finance for synthesis and reporting to the Prime Minister. After the capital is allocated, it will be approved as a basis for investment implementation,” said the leader of the Ministry of Construction.

In the latest report sent to the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Construction also clarified the relationship between the Hanoi - Quang Ninh high-speed railway proposed by Vingroup and the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan Railway Project.

Implementing the direction of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, the Ministry of Construction held a meeting and issued a document guiding Vingroup Corporation to complete the proposal documents, coordinate with the Vietnam Railway Authority to review and study the addition of the Hanoi - Quang Ninh railway line to the Railway Network Planning for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050.

Currently, the Vietnam Railway Authority has drafted a dossier to adjust the Railway Network Planning, sent a document to solicit opinions from relevant agencies, units and localities as a basis for completing the dossier, and submitted it to competent authorities for consideration and comments.

If invested, the Hanoi - Quang Ninh railway will basically handle passenger transport; the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway will only transport goods, while the existing Yen Vien - Kep - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway will still ensure freight transport.

Therefore, in case the planning of the Hanoi - Quang Ninh railway route is feasible and approved by competent authorities, the Lim - Pha Lai railway section of Sub-project 2 (currently suspended and extended) is proposed to be adjusted to function as a feeder road for the expressway (because this section runs parallel and close to the expressway).

The railway stations planned to be built on this section will be bid to select investors to build rest stops on the expressway, avoiding loss and waste.

“In case the adjustment of the railway network planning is not feasible, the Hanoi - Quang Ninh high-speed railway line is not implemented as proposed, the Ministry of Construction will continue to invest to complete Sub-project 2 (Lim - Pha Lai), and put it into operation as the above scenario,” the leader of the Ministry of Construction shared.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/du-an-tuyen-duong-sat-yen-vien---pha-lai---ha-long---cai-lan-nga-re-moi-d410553.html