On November 3, the working delegation led by Mr. Nguyen Minh Son - Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly Economic Committee had a working session in Khanh Hoa province on issues related to the North - South High-speed Railway Project.
Mr. Nguyen Minh Son informed that the Party Central Committee has agreed on the investment policy for the entire high-speed railway project (350 km/h) on the North-South axis with the spirit of urgent direction and determination to implement the project.
It is expected that the project will be approved for investment in the fourth quarter of 2024; complete the feasibility study report, design, and select contractors in the 2025-2026 period; start construction in 2027; and strive to complete construction in 2035.
The early investment in the North-South high-speed railway project aims to realize the Party's policies and orientations, the Resolutions and Conclusions of the Politburo and to implement the plans. Due to the importance and necessity of early investment in the project, the Central Executive Committee has assigned competent agencies to direct relevant units to urgently complete the detailed technical documents to seek opinions from the 15th National Assembly for consideration and decision.
At the meeting, leaders of the People's Committees of Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Dong Nai and Ho Chi Minh City highly agreed with the policy of building a high-speed railway.
Localities recommended investing in more potential stations, increasing the station area to over 8 hectares, and at the same time requesting competent authorities to pay attention to building a common land price framework, bordering locations between provinces to unify compensation prices, focusing on building resettlement areas, material sources...
According to Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Danh Huy, the North-South High-Speed Railway Project is a difficult and new project that requires the mobilization of the collective intellectual strength of Party and State leaders and experts.
Regarding local opinions on the location of the passenger station, Mr. Huy suggested that it is necessary to carefully study the needs and make large investments to ensure efficiency.
There are some principles: urban areas with a population of 500,000 or more can have stations; the route passes through 20 provinces and cities, each locality must have at least one station.
For locations that need to connect with other modes of transport, stations must be located, because the train speed is very high, so the distance between stations is not too close...
Acknowledging the proposal of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee on planning potential stations in the southern region of the locality, Mr. Nguyen Danh Huy said that during the exploitation phase, when new urban areas and economic centers are formed, there will be sufficient conditions to evaluate and consider adding stations. The investment in these additional stations will be prioritized in the direction of mobilizing social resources.
Regarding resettlement, the Ministry of Transport has submitted to the National Assembly a request for capital allocation to clear the land and build before resettlement. Thereby, it also requested a mechanism for appointing contractors to save time in construction. Because if done in order, it would take 2 years to complete all procedures.
Some localities believe that the construction of the route should be built on a viaduct for easier implementation. Deputy Minister Nguyen Danh Huy said that the construction of an viaduct is more convenient in construction, but the Ministry of Transport's viewpoint is to only build an viaduct through areas that separate residential communities and flood escape locations. In favorable terrain locations, the ground foundation will still be built to ensure investment efficiency and save budget.
