Total investment capital is $58 billion, and train speed 320 kilometers per hour.

Since 2005, MOT has carried out many studies on high-speed railways. In 2009, a pre-feasibility study report was approved by the State’s Appraisal Council and got the nod from the Politburo. However, the high-speed railway project was not approved by the NA at its session in May 2010.

Following the resolution of the Central Committee and instructions of the PM, MOT checked the pre-feasibility study. During the process, MOT organized many conferences and seminars to collect opinions from agencies, experts and scientists. It also reached agreements with 20 localities where the high-speed railways will go through.

After consultation, MOT completed the pre-feasibility study and submitted it to the Prime Minister in February 2019. As it is an important national project, on July 11, 2019, the Prime Minister released Decision No859 appraisal of the study by the State Appraisal Council.

After considering the working program of the Politburo and the Secretariat in 2021, as well as the Prime Minister’s instructions, MOT worked on the North-South high-speed railway project and consulted with the Central Economics Committee and National Assembly’s Committees.

MOT’s Civil Affairs Committee sent a document to the Office of the Party Central Committee, requesting the office to ask for the Politburo’s permission to delay the reporting until the appraisal results were released.

The North-South High-speed Railway would go through 20 cities/provinces, with the starting point at Ngoc Hoi station in Hanoi and ending at Thu Thiem Station in HCM City.

The research by MOT which has been submitted to competent agencies shows that the North-South railway would be 1,435mm gauge, be electrified, and 1,545km in length. Trains would use EMU technology (Electric Multiple Unit) and the maximum speed would be 320 kilometers per hour.

Of the $58 billion of capital for the project, $1.98 billion would be spent on site clearance, $31.58 billion on construction, $15 billion on equipment, and $5.82 billion for project management, consultancy and other expenses. The provisioned expense is $4.07 billion.

MOT has designed a two-phase investment plan.

Phase 1: The Hanoi-Vinh and NhaTrang-HCM City sections with total length of 665 kilometers. The estimated capital is $24.72 billion. The sections would be put into operation from 2032.

Phase: The Vinh-Nha Trang section with length of 894 kilometers. The estimated capital is $33.99 billion. The Vinh-Da Nang section would become operational from 2040, and the Da Nang-Nha Trang section in 2045-2050.

Vu Diep