On the morning of October 5, at the Government Headquarters, Politburo member and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a meeting of the Government Standing Committee with relevant ministries, branches and agencies to discuss and give opinions on the investment policy for the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis and the implementation of railway projects connecting with China.
Speaking at the meeting, the Prime Minister emphasized that the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis and railway projects connecting with China are of great significance to the development of our country.
At the 10th Central Conference, the Central Executive Committee agreed on the policy of building the North-South high-speed railway project.
The Government Standing Committee held a meeting with relevant ministries and branches to discuss and continue to prepare this project well; at the same time, continue to carry out research work and promote railway projects connecting China to report to competent authorities.
These are big and important tasks. The Prime Minister emphasized that determination must be high, efforts must be great, actions must be drastic, and each task must be completed immediately, "only discuss doing, no backtracking", assigning "clear people, clear tasks, clear responsibilities, clear implementation time, clear efficiency, clear products".
The Prime Minister requested ministries and branches to focus their intelligence, time and efforts on developing the project and continue to submit it to competent authorities, especially researching, proposing and clarifying resource mobilization and other necessary conditions, as well as project implementation progress.
According to the Ministry of Transport, the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis has been actively studied by the ministry and other ministries, departments and branches, and models from 22 countries and territories have been referenced, and lessons have been learned from 6 countries that own and master high-speed railway technology.
On that basis, the North-South high-speed railway line with a length of 1,541 km, double-track scale, 1,435 mm gauge, electrification, infrastructure designed with a speed of 350 km/h, 23 passenger stations with an average distance of about 67 km, 5 freight stations connected to freight hubs is proposed.
The route will start from Ngoc Hoi station (Hanoi), pass through 20 provinces and cities and end at Thu Thiem station (HCMC).
Through reviewing the investment plan, preliminary information on technology, techniques, investment scale, and referring to investment rates of high-speed railway projects that have been and are being implemented in the world, the consultant prepared a pre-feasibility study report with preliminary calculations to determine the total project investment of about 67.34 billion USD.
The Ministry of Transport aims to submit the investment policy to the National Assembly for approval at the October 2024 session; bid to select international consultants, conduct surveys, and prepare a pre-feasibility study report in 2025-2026.
Implement site clearance, bid for contractor selection and start construction of component projects of Hanoi - Vinh and Nha Trang - Ho Chi Minh City sections by the end of 2027; start construction of component projects of Vinh - Nha Trang section in 2028-2029 and strive to complete investment of the entire route by 2035.
Relevant ministries and agencies are actively researching options and promoting cooperation in implementing three railway routes connecting Vietnam and China, including: Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong; Lang Son - Hanoi; Mong Cai - Ha Long - Hai Phong.
