Why is it still not completed after 2 decades?

Editor's note:
The Standing Committee of the Central Steering Committee on preventing and combating corruption, waste and negativity agreed to put 4 cases and incidents with signs of waste under monitoring and direction, namely the project of the Operation and Trade Center Building, Vietnam Cement Corporation (Vicem); the Hoi Xuan Hydropower Project, Thanh Hoa Province; the project to build the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ; Sub-project 2 (Lim - Pha Lai), part of the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway project.

These are all projects that have lasted for many years, are unfinished/only partially completed, and show signs of serious waste.

The project to build the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway line with a length of 131 km (43 km newly built and 88 km renovated and upgraded), starting at Yen Vien station ( Hanoi ), ending at Cai Lan port (Quang Ninh) 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 investment of 7,665 billion VND, divided into 4 independently operated sub-projects: Yen Vien - Lim, Lim - Pha Lai, Pha Lai - Ha Long, Ha Long - Cai Lan.

If this railway line is completed, the journey from Ha Long to Yen Vien will take 1.5-2 hours by passenger train and 3-4 hours by freight train, contributing to creating a traffic and transportation corridor to promote the development of Hanoi - Quang Ninh .

The project started in 2005 and was expected to be completed in early 2012. However, due to funding difficulties in 2011, it was postponed and the progress has been delayed until now.

steel bridge
Railway overpasses of the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway project have been suspended for many years. Photo: Bao Khanh

This causes households within the project area along the route from Dong Trieu town, Uong Bi city, to Ha Long city (Quang Ninh) to not be allowed to build or repair houses, not to divide plots, transfer land use rights, not to be granted or changed land use right certificates... negatively affecting the lives of households.

Meanwhile in Bac Ninh, according to VietNamNet reporters, the 5 railway overpasses of this project are still just unfinished dead-end bridges.

In early 2023, in response to the petition of Quang Ninh voters, the Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction) emphasized that this railway line plays an important role in developing the Kunming - Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong - Quang Ninh economic corridor.

However, in the period 2008-2011, our country's economy faced many difficulties due to the impact of the global economic crisis, so the project had to be postponed and its progress delayed according to Resolution No. 11/2011 of the Government on key solutions focusing on curbing inflation, stabilizing the macro economy, and ensuring social security.

In addition, the capital in the previous medium-term public investment plan allocated to this Ministry is limited, and must be balanced and prioritized for investment in dynamic projects according to the Resolutions of the Party, State and Government. Therefore, it is not possible to arrange capital to fully invest in this railway line.

Furthermore, the investment plan needs to be carefully and thoroughly studied to ensure effectiveness. Because the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway project was approved for investment a long time ago, there have been many changes in the socio-economic development orientation of the localities the project passes through.

Currently, this project has just completed and put into operation Sub-project 1, Ha Long - Cai Lan section. The remaining 3 sub-projects including Yen Vien - Lim, Lim - Pha Lai, Pha Lai - Ha Long have just started compensation, site clearance, roadbed construction and some items on the route.

At the time of the official suspension of construction in 2014, the project had disbursed VND4,322 billion, reaching 56% of the total investment approved by the Government.

Recently, the Standing Committee of the Central Steering Committee on preventing and combating corruption, waste and negativity agreed to put 4 cases and incidents with signs of waste under monitoring and direction. Among them is Sub-project 2 (Lim - Pha Lai), belonging to the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway project.

Waiting for the day the project is "reborn"

In early February this year, the Ministry of Transport sent an official dispatch to the Prime Minister to report on the implementation of the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway project. In particular, it recommended considering and approving the project to be included in the medium-term public investment portfolio for 2026-2030, as a basis for the Ministry to allocate capital and complete adjustment procedures according to its authority.

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

According to the Ministry of Transport, this is an important political and legal basis to activate the process of completing the route connecting the two sides of the Red River Delta development triangle, Hanoi and Quang Ninh.

The Ministry has also directed the Railway Project Management Board and consultants to urgently review and complete the project adjustment dossier to implement the next steps. To date, the consultants have basically completed the feasibility study report of the adjusted project and the Ministry held a final report meeting on January 2, early this year.

Based on the actual socio-economic development situation in the localities, the forecast results on the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan route show that the demand for passenger transport is higher and the demand for goods is lower than before. Accordingly, the function of the project has changed, mainly passenger transport.

Along with that, 3 unfinished sub-projects are also being studied to make the most appropriate adjustments to current reality.

“Considering the volume previously implemented due to the suspension, the preliminary total investment cost of the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway project is about 8,300 billion VND, an increase of about 700 billion VND compared to the initial total investment,” the leader of the Ministry of Transport at that time shared with the press.

That is the preliminary calculation of the Ministry of Transport. The question of when this railway project will be “reborn” remains open.

Trillion-dollar projects 'shelved' for many years, where is the way out? A series of projects, including large projects with investment capital of tens of thousands of billions of VND, 'shelved' for many years is not simply a matter of slow progress, but also raises issues of capital efficiency, asset management and responsibility of related parties.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/du-an-duong-sat-7-665-ty-2-thap-ky-van-dang-do-them-700-ty-de-tai-sinh-2386003.html