Great expectations from the $8.3 billion railway project

The route, when invested, will open up great opportunities for transportation, international connectivity, and reduce logistics costs. To implement it, many specific mechanisms have been proposed.

Yesterday afternoon (February 10), the National Assembly Standing Committee gave its opinion on the investment policy for the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway line with a gauge of 1,435mm.

Shortest, straightest route possible

Presenting the Government's proposal, Minister of Transport Tran Hong Minh said that the project has a starting point at the rail connection point across the border between the new Lao Cai station and Ha Khau Bac station (China), in Lao Cai city; the end point is at Lach Huyen wharf area, in Hai Phong city. The main line is about 390.9km long and 3 branch lines are about 27.9km long.

Minister of Transport Tran Hong Minh presented the Government's proposal on investment policy for the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway project.

The project passes through 9 provinces and cities: Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc, Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Hai Phong. The total preliminary investment is about 203,231 billion VND (about 8.369 billion USD).

The Government proposes that funding sources for the project include the State budget (central and local), domestic capital, foreign capital (loans from the Chinese Government) and other legal sources of capital.

Regarding the scale of investment, a new electrified railway line with a gauge of 1,435mm will be built to transport both passengers and goods; the main line from Lao Cai Moi station to Nam Hai Phong station will have a design speed of 160km/h, the section through the Hanoi hub area will have a design speed of 120km/h, and the connecting sections and branch lines will have a design speed of 80km/h.

In terms of technology, centralized power train technology is used for passenger and freight trains; the information and signal systems are equivalent to the systems currently used on some railway lines transporting passengers and freight in the region.

According to Minister Tran Hong Minh, the route was studied and selected to ensure the shortest and straightest route possible, ensuring compliance with the planning approved by competent authorities.

Regarding the station construction, it is planned to arrange 18 stations (including 3 train stations and 15 mixed stations). During the exploitation process, when the transportation demand increases, some technical operation stations will be researched and upgraded into mixed stations and additional stations will be invested when needed.

Regarding progress, according to the Government's recommendation, the project will have a feasibility study report prepared from 2025, striving to basically complete it by 2030.

Removing "bottlenecks" in intermodal transport

According to the reporter's records in the first days of the new year, at Vat Cach station (Hai Phong), the activity of loading sulfur by train to China through Lao Cai border gate is still taking place regularly.

Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway route with 1,435mm gauge according to the Pre-Feasibility Study Report

Mr. Duong Van Hung, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director of Hai Phong Railway Transport Services Joint Stock Company - the unit that leases the railway for transportation, said that this is a traditional commodity that the company undertakes services for Chinese partners. In addition to sulfur, there are also ores and other bulk commodities with a two-way output of about 350,000 tons/year.

Previously, sulfur and iron ore transited through Hai Phong port, from there by train through Lao Cai to Chinese factories and vice versa, with higher output. However, about 10 years ago, when China built a 1,435mm gauge railway to Hekou Bei station near the border, output decreased because Vietnam's railways still used 1,000mm gauge.

Very few 1,000mm gauge locomotives and wagons are qualified to run on Chinese railways, so most trains have to stop at Lao Cai station to transfer cargo to Chinese wagons. At Hekou Bei station, if you want to go deeper into China, you have to transfer to 1,435mm gauge wagons, which creates many operations and costs.

Regarding the information that the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway line was submitted to the National Assembly for investment, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Thanh, Deputy General Director of the Railway Transport and Trade Joint Stock Company (Ratraco), said that this will help businesses save a lot of time and import-export costs.

Creating a construction market of more than 4.5 billion USD

According to Mr. Vu Hong Phuong, Director of the Railway Project Management Board, the East-West corridor (Hai Phong - Hanoi - Lao Cai) is a transport corridor passing through 9 localities accounting for 21% of GDP and 25% of industrial zones nationwide. This is the second most important economic transport corridor after the North-South corridor.

The investment in this railway line will create a construction market worth more than 4.5 billion USD, about 90,000 jobs during construction and about 2,500 permanent jobs.

At the same time, the route connects with the Chinese railway, through the railway to Yunnan, Tibet and connects to Europe. Vietnam's export goods will go by rail through Lao Cai border gate and be transported on this railway.

According to Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Dong, former Deputy Minister of Transport, among the 7 railway routes, if the North-South route is characterized by outstanding passenger demand, the East-West route meets the urgent need for freight transport and connectivity. Vietnamese goods transported to Europe by rail cost from 1/3 to nearly 1/2 less than by sea, and time is also shortened from 14-20 days.

Propose a series of specific mechanisms

In order to start the project at the end of 2025 as directed by the Government, Mr. Vu Hong Phuong said, the Ministry of Transport has deployed many tasks at the same time.

Specifically, during the research process to prepare the Pre-Feasibility Study Report, the Ministry of Transport also implemented the contents in the step of preparing the Feasibility Study Report; Negotiating the loan agreement for the project...

The Ministry of Transport has proposed a series of specific policies, including a group of policies related to promoting progress, such as approval authority, project adjustment authority, determining capital sources, allowing the application of the bidding mechanism for all steps that may affect the construction start time...

Accordingly, the Ministry of Transport proposed 19 groups of policies under the authority of the National Assembly. Of which, it proposed to allow the application of 15/19 policies in Resolution No. 172/2024/QH15 of the National Assembly on the investment policy for the North-South high-speed railway project.

At the same time, it is proposed to add 4 policy groups under the authority of the National Assembly. In which, investors are allowed to be designated to bid for bidding packages of important national projects according to the provisions of Article 23 of the Law on Bidding.

Lessons learned from previous projects show that two major factors that have a significant impact on project construction progress are land acquisition, compensation, and resettlement support (THD, DB, HTTDC) by localities and disagreements and conflicts in economic contractual relations between investors and contractors.

To overcome these factors, the Ministry of Transport has proposed a specific mechanism in the work of THĐ, DB, and HTTĐC such as: It is possible to use preliminary design documents (after the National Assembly approves the investment policy) to send to localities to prepare for the implementation of THĐ, DB, and HTTĐC; Assign localities to be investors in THĐ, DB, and HTTĐC projects, to implement immediately after the project is approved for investment policy (previously, THĐ, DB, and HTTĐC had to be approved before implementation)...

Evaluate carefully to avoid risks

Presenting the report examining the Government's submission, Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh said that the Economic Committee agreed on the necessity of investing in the project with the political and legal bases and practical reasons stated in the Government's submission.

Regarding the route, the appraisal agency proposed that in the feasibility study step, the Government direct relevant agencies to carefully review and select the optimal route option to ensure the project's connection with the national railway network, urban railways, and other transport systems.

The Economic Committee also proposed to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the railway projects planned for investment and carefully evaluate the financial plan and impacts during the operation and exploitation of the projects to minimize future risks.

To ensure feasibility and effectiveness, it is necessary for the Government to propose to the National Assembly to allow the application of a number of specific and special mechanisms and policies.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/ky-vong-lon-tu-du-an-duong-sat-83-ty-usd-192250210224738502.htm