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The North-South high-speed rail project is being prepared for investment

The 60 billion USD railway connects Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City in more than 5 hours

In the Socio-Economic Development Plan Report for 2023 and expected for 2024 of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the recent National Assembly session, the Government's goals were identified. That is to complete the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis to submit to the authority for consideration in 2024.

Since March 2023, the Politburo has issued conclusions on the development of Vietnam's railway transport until 2030, with a vision to 2045. The goal in 2025 is to complete investment approval for the North-South high-speed rail project and start construction before 2030.

 Two sections will be prioritized in the period 2026 - 2030 including Hanoi - Vinh and Ho Chi Minh City - Nha Trang.

 Currently, the Ministry of Transport is seeking opinions from ministries and branches on two project investment options:

Option 1 is to build a North-South expressway with double track, rail gauge 1,435 mm, length 1,545 km, speed 320 km/h, passenger train; and combine the renovation of existing railways to carry goods. The total expected investment is about 58.71 billion USD.

With this plan, people will travel from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City in 5 hours and 20 minutes.

Option 2 is to build a new North-South railway, double track, 1,435 mm gauge, combine both passenger and freight trains; the maximum passenger train speed is 180 - 250 km/h, maximum freight train speed is 120 km/h. The total investment is about 64.9 billion USD.

With this option, the travel time from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City takes about 7-8 hours.

Many international corporations and organizations want to support

With particularly important significance and huge investment capital, the Government and the Ministry of Transport are making many efforts to have the best preparations for the North-South high-speed rail project.

Recently, Government leaders and the Ministry of Transport have continuously met and worked with many large international corporations and financial organizations to invite investment in the project.

Specifically, in a recent meeting and working session with leaders of the World Bank Group (WB), Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked the WB to arrange capital for loans to Vietnam at the lowest interest rates. It includes the construction of key transport infrastructure projects and the North-South high-speed rail project.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Ms. Manuela Ferro, Vice President in charge of the East Asia-Pacific region of the World Bank Group, on the afternoon of November 14. Photo (Nhat Bac/ Chinhphu)

At the meeting, WB leaders said they would continue to accompany and support Vietnam toward its goal of becoming a developed, high-income country by 2045. WB has loaned Vietnam about 25 billion USD. It includes more than 170 projects in various fields and transportation infrastructure.

 At the end of October 2023, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang worked with the Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam. He expressed his desire for Japan to support Vietnam in the North-South high-speed rail project.

According to Minister Thang, this is an extremely important project with a large total investment. Therefore, we hope that Japan will continue to support Vietnam in research and project implementation. Besides, he also hopes that Japan will consider and support capital for project implementation under the new generation ODA capital mechanism.

The Japanese Ambassador said that Japan will support Vietnam in research and investment in transportation and high-speed rail projects. In particular, for the North-South high-speed railway project, Japan will consider supporting Vietnam with ODA loans with the most favorable mechanism.

Previously, during the Belt and Road Forum taking place in China, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung also worked with leaders of China Port Construction Corporation (CHEC) and China Transportation Construction Corporation (CCCC).

It is known that CHEC and CCCC are both large enterprises in the field of infrastructure investment in China. In Vietnam, these businesses have also been present since 1996 and have participated in investing in many infrastructure and energy projects in many provinces and cities.

At the meeting, the leaders of the two corporations wished to participate in investing in the North-South high-speed railway project and other important infrastructure such as the expanded Trung Luong - My Thuan expressway, Ho Chi Minh City - Moc Bai, Dong Dang – Tra Linh…