HCMC – The Ministry of Transport will complete the site clearance, feasibility report and design for the North-South express railway project before 2026. This is being done to ensure that work on some packages of the Hanoi-Vinh and HCMC-Nha Trang sections of the project can start in 2028-2029, said Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The.
At a conference on November 1 to announce the master plan for the railway system in the 2021-2030 period with a vision to 2050, Minister The said the Government would seek approval from the Politburo and the National Assembly for the North-South express railway project in the 2021-2026 period, the local media reported.
The minister stressed that the North-South express railway was an important route to transport passengers and cargo in the future. In localities the railway will pass through, new urban areas can be developed around stations. Therefore, these localities should coordinate with the Ministry of Transport to adjust their general planning to develop urban areas, exploit the high-speed railway, and support the ministry with site clearance and resettlement.
When the express railway is in place, it will be responsible for transporting passengers, while the current North-South railway will transport cargo. The Ministry of Transport has also planned many railways connecting to seaports.
According to Le Do Muoi, head of the Transport Development and Strategy Institute, the consultant for the railway system development plan, the North-South express railway will have a length of some 1,500 kilometers and allow a maximum speed of 350 kilometers per hour.
Before 2030, the Hanoi-Vinh and HCMC-Nha Trang sections will be developed with an estimated investment of VND112 trillion.
In addition to the seven existing rail routes, which are 2,440 kilometers long in total, nine more routes with a total length of nearly 2,400 kilometers will be developed by 2030. These nine projects will need an investment of VND240 trillion, which will be sourced from the public investment and official development assistance loans and through the public-private partnership investment model.
By 2050, the North-South express railway and new railways from Hanoi and HCMC, railways connecting seaports, industrial parks and the Central Highlands, coastal railways and those connecting with international routes will be completed. The national railway system by 2050 will have 25 routes with a total length of nearly 6,400 kilometers.
