Big advantage but full of challenges
The high-speed railway line, including 23 passenger stations and 5 freight stations. In particular, Binh Dinh province plans to arrange 2 stations in Bong Son (Hoai Nhon town) and Dieu Tri (Tuy Phuoc district) - a rare advantage compared to many localities, opening up opportunities to strongly promote the development of transport infrastructure, logistics, urban and tourism when the project comes into operation.
However, through review, Binh Dinh province discovered that the planned location of Dieu Tri station is at risk of overlapping with the existing North - South expressway through Phuoc An commune (Tuy Phuoc district). The section from Hoai Son commune to Hoai Hao ward (Hoai Nhon town) is also identified as affecting existing residential areas, resettlement areas that have been put into use and some historical relics such as Ba Dinh Ang, the battle of the Vietnam Republic Government Headquarters in 2014.
In addition, the implementation of the project in the context of Binh Dinh and Gia Lai about to "come home" to the new Gia Lai province also poses many challenges, especially in terms of planning. Because when the administrative boundaries change, the entire planning system for regional, urban, industrial and transportation development of the two localities must be adjusted and renewed to avoid being outdated. If the planning is not adjusted in time, the project can affect progress, scale and implementation costs.
Site clearance is one of the major challenges of the project, as the entire route affects more than 120,000 people and must be resettled.
In Binh Dinh, many areas with high population density, relocation is expected to be complicated, easily leading to complaints if there is a lack of reasonable support and compensation plans.
Do not let railways break regional planning
After the merger, the new Gia Lai will be a province with a particularly important position on the North-South axis and the East-West corridor, a land that meets all the conditions to become a connecting center between the Central and Central Highlands coastal regions.
The high-speed railway line will help increase passenger transport capacity, reduce the load on road routes, and create an industrial - service - urban development axis extending from the coastal to the plateau. Real estate along the route and around the stations will become an investment attraction, promoting regional economic growth.
However, if not surveyed and assessed carefully, the construction process could destroy existing residential areas, encroach on historical sites, and affect people's lives. In the context of provincial mergers, the coordination between old and new management units also poses a risk of overlap, conflicts of authority, and affecting project progress.
Binh Dinh has soon recognized the problems and promptly proposed that the Ministry of Construction remove the overlap between the station and the North-South expressway; specifically assess the level of impact of the project on National-level Historical Sites; recommend the Government to apply specific mechanisms and policies as applied to the North-South Expressway project in the East... to ensure the project implementation progress.
In addition to recommending removing obstacles, Binh Dinh needs to comprehensively review the provincial planning to ensure synchronization with the high-speed railway line. Land use planning and zoning areas where the project passes through must also be updated promptly, avoiding overlap with existing projects, especially in the context of merging with Gia Lai.
The route should prioritize sparsely populated areas and favorable terrain to reduce site clearance costs and limit the impact on people. Strengthening dialogue and absorbing people's opinions is necessary to create consensus and avoid complaints.
