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Ministry proposes USD60bn North-South express train
  • | vietnamnet, dtinews.vn | August 31, 2018 09:18 AM
The Ministry of Transport will submit a USD60bn plan for the North-South express railway to the National Assembly.

  

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The consortium of consultants Tedi-Tricc-Tedis said by 2030, the North-South railway could serve 1.97 million passengers and 2.8 million tonnes of goods a day.

According to the proposal, the new railway will be 1,545km long with three sections: 285km Hanoi-Vinh section that costs USD10.83bn, 896km Vinh-Nha Trang section costs USD34.05bn and 364 Nha Trang-HCM City section that costs USD13.83bn.

If the train speeds can increase from 200 to 350km/h, they could compete with the airlines. Even in the first phase, when the trains for Hanoi-Vinh and Nha Trang-HCM City sections can only reach the speed of 200km/h, the railway sector can still compete with airlines as passengers will not have to spend two hours on check-in procedures.

The new railway will run through 23 stations and five depots. If the project is approved quickly, it can be opened for trial in 2028-2029.

However, Nguyen Ngoc Long, vice chairman of Vietnam Bridge and Road Association, suggested dividing the railway into smaller sections to ensure better quality and management. The stations in Hanoi and HCM City must be considered carefully to synchronise with other means of transportation.

Vietnam needs tight legal frameworks to call for ODA loans and funds from the state budget. They must also calculate how much capital can be attracted from the private sector before submitting the plan. The North-South express railway plan had been proposed once before but due to lack of various details, it was rejected.

Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong said they should look at the social benefits the project would bring, not just the profits.

"It'll be difficult to recover the capital," he admitted.

This year, the plan has been revised with more details about transportation market shares and applied technology. Dong hopes the public and experts will provide opinions to help make the project more completed.

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