The State Appraisal Council on October 18, 2024 had a working session examining the pre-feasibility study about the North-South high-speed railway project submitted by MOT.

The railway will be used for both passenger and cargo transport (if necessary) instead of passenger-only. The investment capital has been raised from $58.71 billion to $67.34 billion.

The project will be a public investment project instead of PPP (private public partnership) as initially planned.

As for capital sources and capital arrangement capability, the state’s capital will be arranged in medium-term public investment periods and the capital will be provided in a timely manner to ensure that the project is completed by 2035.

According to MOT, if the project is completed by 2035 as approved by the Central Party Committee, the disbursement will be implemented within 12 years. About $5.6 billion worth of capital will be needed each year, just 1 percent of GDP (the project is expected to kick off in 2027).

MOT has worked with the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) to assess the capital arrangement capability and affirmed that capital mobilization won’t be a big challenge for now.

Regarding the costs for operation, maintenance and big repairs, in its pre-feasibility study, MOT proposed that the expenses will be calculated from 2037, when the North-South high-speed railway is put into commercial use.

The total cost is estimated at $479 million in 2037, $796 million in 2040, and $1,729 million in 2050.

The State Appraisal Council has requested MOT to provide detailed documents about equipment system, stations, number of trains, train schedules and personnel, and give concrete calculations about the costs to calculate the financial effects of the projects.

Meanwhile, inspection consultants have recommended that when preparing feasibility study, MOT needs to check all factors to optimize the design of railway sections, stations, depots and infrastructure maintenance stations.

It is necessary to adjust the routes to avoid going through the areas highly prone to landslides, flash floods, populous areas, historical relicts and beautiful landscapes, to reduce the impact on society when the state takes back land and arranges resettlement.

MOT needs to choose reasonable locations for stations which avoid flooded areas and help ensure urban sustainable development in the future.

MOT has also asked for the relocation of Long Truong depot, which is in a weak geological and swampy area, to the Long Thanh airport area which has better geological conditions.

Vu Diep