Today, the National Assembly discussed the North-South high-speed railway project.

Today (November 20), the National Assembly discussed in the hall the investment policy for the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis.

On November 20, the National Assembly continued to enter the second phase of the 8th session of the 15th National Assembly.

On the afternoon of the first working day of the second session, the National Assembly will discuss in the hall the investment policy for the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis; Adjusting the investment policy for the Long Thanh International Airport project in Resolution No. 94/2015/QH13 of the National Assembly.

Then, the Minister of Transport explained and clarified a number of issues raised by National Assembly deputies.

Today, the National Assembly discussed in the hall the investment policy for the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis.

Previously, on the morning of November 13, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang, authorized by the Prime Minister , submitted to the National Assembly the investment policy for the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis.

According to Minister Nguyen Van Thang, the railway line starts in Hanoi (Ngoc Hoi station) and ends in Ho Chi Minh City (Thu Thiem station), passing through 20 provinces and cities, with a length of about 1,541km.

Regarding investment scale, the construction of a new high-speed railway on the North-South axis is a double-track, 1,435mm gauge, electrified, designed speed of 350km/h, load capacity of 22.5 tons/axle.

Passenger transport, meeting dual-use requirements for national defense and security, and can transport goods when necessary.

Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang.

Regarding technology, the Government proposes a rail-based railway system, using distributed power train technology, freight trains using centralized power; signal information equivalent to the system currently used in countries operating high-speed railways in the world.

Proposal to select and apply technical standards to ensure train design speed of 350km/h.

The Government proposes to arrange 23 passenger stations, each station is expected to have a planned development space of 200 - 500 hectares, 5 cargo stations, each cargo station has a scale of about 24.5 hectares.

Preliminary total land use demand of the project is about 10,827 hectares, resettled population is about 120,836 people.

Regarding the total investment, the Government proposes that the project investment form is public investment, and the division of the project into components will be carried out when the investment project is approved. The preliminary total investment is about VND 1,713,548 billion (about USD 67.34 billion).

It is expected that state budget capital will be allocated in medium-term public investment plans to complete the project by 2035, with capital allocated over about 12 years (from 2025 to 2037).

The average annual investment is about 5.6 billion USD, equivalent to about 1.3% of GDP in 2023, about 1.0% of GDP in 2027 (when the project starts). The implementation process will mobilize diverse legal capital sources for investment.

Preliminary calculations show that in the first 4 years of operation, the state needs to support part of the infrastructure maintenance costs with economic career capital similar to the current national railway system. The payback period is about 33.61 years.

The government plans to start construction in 2027 and strive to basically complete the entire route by 2037.

Minister Nguyen Van Thang said the project proposes 19 special policies under the authority of the National Assembly and 5 special policies under the authority of the Government.

At the group discussion session, National Assembly delegates assessed that the North-South high-speed railway is a very large-scale, unprecedented project, however the Government has made careful preparations with a research period of nearly 12 years.

Many delegates agreed that this is the right time to submit the investment policy to the National Assembly for consideration and approval and that it needs to be implemented as soon as possible.

This morning (November 20), continuing the working program, the National Assembly discussed in the hall the draft Law on Teachers. Afterwards, the Minister of Education and Training explained and clarified a number of issues raised by National Assembly deputies.

In the afternoon session, Member of the National Assembly Standing Committee, Chairman of the National Assembly's Ethnic Council, Head of the Drafting Committee presented the Report on the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Supervisory Activities of the National Assembly and People's Councils.

Then, the Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Law presented the Report on the examination of the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Supervisory Activities of the National Assembly and People's Councils.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/hom-nay-quoc-hoi-thao-luan-ve-du-an-duong-sat-toc-do-cao-bac-nam-192241119213326142.htm