Completing the legal corridor for the North-South high-speed railway project

The Ministry of Construction has just submitted to the Government a draft Plan to implement the National Assembly's Resolution on investment policy for the North-South high-speed railway project. The draft Plan proposes the progress of completing many important legal documents and projects to create the next step of the project.

Accelerate progress on a series of key tasks

According to the plan, by June 30, 2025, many key tasks must be completed. Specifically, it is necessary to issue three Government decrees applicable to key projects and important national projects in the railway sector. These three decrees include: Decree stipulating criteria for selecting organizations and enterprises: Related to assigning tasks or placing orders to State-owned enterprises and domestic enterprises to provide services and goods in the railway industry.

The North-South high-speed railway project was approved by the National Assembly in November 2024 and is expected to start construction in 2026.

Decree guiding the development of science and technology in the railway industry: In which, it clearly states detailed regulations on research, application and transfer of technology to serve railway projects. Finally, the Decree guiding the temporary use of forests for construction of temporary works: Including regulations on forest restoration after construction of railway projects. In addition, the Government also needs to issue a Prime Minister's Decision on the list of railway industrial services and goods assigned or ordered for domestic organizations and enterprises to perform.

In addition to the above legal documents, the implementation plan also includes the development of two major action programs of the Government. First, the Action Program on Railway Industry Development, with the Ministry of Industry and Trade presiding over the project. The key task is to review and evaluate the current status of the railway industry and supporting industries - from design, manufacturing, construction to production of vehicles, equipment, signaling systems, power supply and specialized materials. At the same time, study international experience to develop a development roadmap to 2035, with a vision to 2045, clearly defining the goals, list of ordered products and criteria for selecting participating enterprises.

Second, the Action Program on human resource development for high-speed railways, chaired and coordinated by the Ministry of Construction. The project will identify human resource training needs for all stages from management, investment, construction to operation, exploitation and maintenance of the system. The project content includes: number of human resources, majors, training level, time schedule and implementation resources.

These documents, projects and programs are expected to lay the legal foundation and strategic direction for the effective implementation of the North-South high-speed railway project - a key national transport infrastructure project of strategic significance in the country's sustainable development.

North-South high-speed railway may start construction in late 2026

Since early April, the Government Office has issued a notice from Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh directing the Ministry of Construction to quickly complete procedures to start the North-South high-speed railway project by the end of 2026. Thus, this timeline is one year earlier than the original plan.

In a recent report to the Government, the Ministry of Construction said that in order to implement the Prime Minister's direction on starting the high-speed railway project at the end of 2026, the Ministry has planned to prepare the project in three phases.

The stage of preparing the Feasibility Study Report, including preparing bidding documents for consulting packages for preparing reports, consulting supervision, and reviewing the Feasibility Study Report, is expected to complete the appraisal work of the State Appraisal Council and submit the Feasibility Study Report to the Prime Minister for approval from now until September 2026.

The site clearance phase includes handing over piles, inventory work, developing compensation plans, resettlement support, and construction of resettlement areas, expected to take place from 2025 to June 2028. The project preparation phase includes selecting contractors and starting construction from October 2026 to December 2026.

To speed up investment preparation, the Ministry of Construction proposed that the Government submit to the National Assembly a number of additional mechanisms, including allowing contractor selection in the form of designated bidding for some project work items.

In addition, before April 30, the Ministry of Construction will have to complete the draft Decree on the content, requirements for survey, preparation of overall technical design; obligations and powers of the parties participating in the implementation of the contract in the form of EPC contract (investor, EPC contractor/general contractor, supervision consultant...).

The Ministry will also draft a Decree on criteria for selecting state-owned organizations and enterprises assigned with tasks or Vietnamese organizations and enterprises ordered to provide railway industrial goods and services. The Ministry of Construction will also review and determine the need for human resource training, organization of management, operation, exploitation and maintenance of high-speed railways to develop a human resource development project and submit it to the Prime Minister for approval.

Regarding the task of developing urban areas in the direction of public transport (TOD) at railway stations, the Ministry of Construction proposed that the Government assign localities to review railway station planning to implement land exploitation projects according to the TOD model, to be completed in December 2025. Localities are proposed to allocate local budget capital to compensate and support resettlement according to the planning of the area surrounding railway stations to create land funds and organize land fund auctions for urban development.

The North-South high-speed railway project was approved by the National Assembly in November 2024 with a total preliminary capital of about 1.7 quadrillion VND (equivalent to 67 billion USD). The 1,541km route, starting from Ngoc Hoi station (Hanoi) and ending at Thu Thiem station (Ho Chi Minh City), passes through 20 provinces and cities.

The project is newly invested with a double gauge of 1,435 mm, a design speed of 350 km/h, a load capacity of 22.5 tons/axle, including 23 passenger stations and 5 freight stations, meeting the needs of passenger transport and being able to transport freight when necessary, while serving national defense and security goals.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Giao-thong/hoan-thien-hanh-lang-phap-ly-du-an-duong-sat-toc-do-cao-bac--nam-i766435/