The Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway line has been approved for investment policy by the National Assembly in Resolution 187, with a length of about 391km of main line and 28km of branch line, passing through 6 provinces and cities.
The route is designed with a gauge of 1.435mm, maximum speed of 160km/h on the main axis, 120km/h through Hanoi area and 80km/h on the remaining sections. Preliminary total investment of more than 203,000 billion VND, implemented in 2 phases.
For the section passing through Lao Cai province, which is more than 143km long, the pre-feasibility phase land recovery demand is about 1,397ha, affecting 6,694 households.
The Lao Cai - Coc San Regional Construction Investment Project Management Board said that the land area within the boundary handed over by the Railway Project Management Board is 6.8ha, directly affecting 10 households and 3 organizations including Tan Binh Minh Construction Investment Co., Ltd., Economic Zone Management Board and Economic Zone Service Center.
The expected resettlement demand is 17 plots, arranged on S5 and S9 roads in Tan Lap Urban Area. Up to now, functional agencies have issued land acquisition notices, organized statistics, inventory and developed compensation, support, and resettlement plans for 10 households and 1 business.
In which, the plan of 5/10 households has been publicly listed, with a total compensation cost of about 11.5 billion VND. The relocation of 3 three-phase power poles and related power lines is also required to be completed before this timeline to ensure the progress of site handover.
For 5 households with houses built from 2-3 floors, the recovered area is only from 0.3-17.1m2 out of a total of 100m2 of residential land. However, because the recovered area affects the structure of the project, the households proposed to recover all residential land to be arranged for resettlement.
Specifically for Tan Binh Minh Construction Investment Co., Ltd., the Ward People's Committee has developed a compensation and support plan and is seeking opinions from departments and branches as a basis for completing dossiers and submitting them to competent authorities for consideration.
Regarding resettlement, the Northern Lao Cai area currently plans 22 areas, of which 6 areas have clean ground, 4 areas are under construction, 12 areas are preparing for investment and are expected to start construction from December to the first quarter of 2026. The Southern area has 16 resettlement areas, many areas have selected contractors and are ready for deployment.
In Lao Cai ward, according to reporters' records at the end of February 2026, immediately after receiving the landmark dossier, functional forces urgently compiled statistics and counted households and production facilities within the affected area.
Mr. Nguyen Van Nhat - Chairman of Lao Cai Ward People's Committee - said that the locality must clear more than 100ha to build a station, located in an industrial park and cluster, with an estimated clearance value of about 13,000 billion VND. In 2026, the ward identified the focus as site clearance work.
According to Mr. Nhat, although basic solutions have been developed, there are still many contents related to unit prices and support policies under the authority of the provincial and central levels. Therefore, localities need synchronous coordination of departments and sectors to remove bottlenecks and obstacles, ensuring general progress.
Leaders of Lao Cai province assessed that the project is not only meaningful to the localities the route passes through but also contributes to realizing the national strategic infrastructure development goals, strengthening regional connectivity and international integration.
