Last September 12, Nhuyen Ngoc Dong who is the deputy minister of transport, has had the chance to speak to the standing committee of the National Assembly regarding the new chapter contained on the amended Railway Law and it will be about the proposed high-speed railway for trans-Vietnam.
Dong admitted that the National Assembly has already rejected the proposed high-speed railway project but due to the strategy made by the Vietnam railway development plan which is given an approval by the Prime Minister, there will be a high speed rail route to be constructed. This is in the north to south line and it will have a gauge of 1,435 and is expected to be finished by 2050.
The government has already sent instructions to the Ministry of Transport to perform a pre-feasibility study regarding the project. In accordance to the instruction, the agency will be handing over this result to the government by 2018 in order to be evaluated and it will be sent to the National Assembly to be given the approval before 2020 comes.
The first segment which will be constructed is the Saigon going to Long Thanh route and it will be followed by the Hanoi to Vinh line. In 2030, it is expected that they will be tackling the segments in Hanoi going to Da Nang and Saigon going to Danang. Dong said that it is expected that the whole route be finished construction by 2050.
He also shared that many studies are being conducted regarding the high-speed routes. Take for example the studies done with South Korea which helped the country decide regarding the Hanoi to Vinh and Ho Chi Minh City to Can Thou lines. The Hanoi to Vinh segment has had help from the studies conducted with JICA or Japan International Cooperation Agency through their assistance.
Tong Thi Phong, the deputy NA Chairwoman, is in agreement with the plan to replace trains in Vietnam but she is still not sure when it comes to investment sources and how competitive the high speed trains will be compared to other transport means.
