Immediately after the meeting of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha with Vingroup Corporation on investment in the Hanoi - Quang Ninh railway line (Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan), the Ministry of Construction sent a document to the Railway Project Management Board. The Ministry requested this unit to review the investment plan for the above railway line.
The Ministry assigned the Railway Project Management Board to study and evaluate Vingroup Corporation's proposal on investment in the Hanoi - Quang Ninh railway line and the possibility of combining investment with the Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway line to make the most of the invested works and items.
Research and evaluate additional investment scenarios with speeds of 160km/h and 300km/h to propose effective investment scenarios; propose investment methods and solutions for accompanying mechanisms and policies.
The Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway project is 131 km long, with a total investment of VND 7,663 billion from government bonds. The project was approved by the Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction) in 2004; started in 2008, expected to be completed in 2011.
However, due to being included in the list of projects that must be delayed and delayed according to the policy of cutting public investment in Resolution No. 11/2011/NQ-CP of the Government, the project has been "shelved" since 2011.
According to the design, this new railway line uses a cage (including a track of 1,435 m and 1 m) using a seamless welding track, with a modern signal information system and intersections at different levels with national highways to reach a speed of 120 km/h for passenger ships and 80 km/h for cargo ships. If this route is completed, the passenger train journey from Ha Long to Yen Vien will be 1.5 - 2 hours; freight trains will be 3 - 4 hours.
