Ministry of Transport clarifies opinions on route direction and investment level of high-speed railway

The Ministry of Transport has just issued a document responding to the contents that the State Appraisal Council requested clarification in the pre-feasibility report of the North-South high-speed railway project.

In which, there are contents explained by the Ministry of Transport to reserve the selected plan; there are contents in which the Ministry accepts the Council's opinions and promises to update details in the feasibility report stage.

The alignment has been studied to be “as straight as possible”

Regarding the review of the high-speed railway route, the Ministry of Transport said that the route has been studied according to the principle of “as straight as possible”, and all curves have been audited to ensure safety and comfort for passengers. In addition, the route also meets 5 principles.

These principles include: (1) consistent with national and local sector planning; (2) shortest route length between stations; meeting technical requirements, creating convenience for passengers; (3) consistent with terrain; (4) limiting passage through sensitive areas and relics; limiting the volume of land clearance; (5) ensuring connectivity of the East-West corridor, railway lines connecting China, Laos, and Cambodia.

Muong Man Station will be moved 4km from the original plan (Graphic: Khuong Hien).

Accepting the proposal of Binh Thuan province, the Ministry of Transport agreed to move Muong Man station to a new location about 4km north of the old location (Phan Thiet station). In addition, in the Feasibility Report stage, the Ministry of Transport will consider potential station locations to assign localities to take the lead in calling for station investment under the PPP method.

Regarding the location of the cargo station in Hanoi area, accepting the proposal of Hanoi People's Committee, the Ministry of Transport will move the cargo station in Ngoc Hoi area to Thuong Tin.

In the Feasibility Report preparation step, the Ministry of Transport will direct the Consultant to continue to coordinate with localities to review and adjust the route direction and station locations (if any), especially locations with advantages in connecting with major traffic hubs and economic zones, including the section through Nam Dinh province.

Operate passenger trains 320km/h, freight trains 120km/h

In the Pre-Feasibility Report, the North-South high-speed railway has a designed speed of 350km/h for passenger trains and 160km/h for freight trains.

According to the Ministry of Transport, experience in countries with newly put into operation railways shows that operating speed is about 90% of the design speed. Therefore, the ministry determined that in the first phase, the maximum operating speed of passenger trains is 320km/h, and freight trains is 120km/h.

Combined passenger and cargo train operation (Photo: DALL-E).

The consultant uses curve radii and super elevation calculations according to European standards, thereby showing that the technical requirements of the route meet the conditions for safe exploitation. During the exploitation process, the increase of maximum exploitation speed will be summarized, evaluated and tested.

Receiving the opinions of the Appraisal Council, the Ministry of Transport will direct the Consultant to continue to make specific calculations to ensure operational safety in the feasibility report preparation step.

Issue bonds, borrow ODA when needed

Regarding the requirement to carefully review the total investment, the Ministry of Transport has directed the Consultant to review and preliminarily update the total investment of the project based on the principles of correct calculation, completeness and compliance with legal regulations.

The Ministry of Transport said that the project will be implemented over 10 years, so the total preliminary investment may fluctuate due to objective factors (natural disasters, epidemics, environmental incidents, etc.) or subjective factors (changes in planning, policies, price indexes, slow site clearance implementation, inadequate capital allocation, etc.).

During the Feasibility Report preparation phase after the detailed design is available, the Ministry of Transport will continue to review and calculate the total project investment to ensure accuracy, completeness, and suitability with the technology and scale of the project investment.

Regarding investment capital arrangement, the Project Consultant proposes to use State budget capital in medium-term public investment periods. The investment period is 12 years, with an average of about 5.6 billion USD per year.

Identifying this as a project that needs the highest priority in terms of capital allocation, the Ministry of Transport said that in case of capital shortage, the Government will issue bonds or borrow ODA to compensate.

In addition, the profits from exploiting land funds in the vicinity of high-speed railway stations (TOD model) of localities will contribute 50% to the central budget to balance the state budget invested in the project (estimated at about 8.5 billion USD compared to the site clearance cost of about 6.5 billion USD).

In recent days, the Ministry of Transport and the State Appraisal Council have urgently compiled and agreed on the contents of the Pre-Feasibility Report and the Appraisal Report of the North-South high-speed railway project.

It is expected that the project's Pre-Feasibility Report will be submitted by the Government to the National Assembly at the 8th session taking place at the end of October.

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/xa-hoi/bo-gtvt-lam-ro-y-kien-ve-huong-tuyen-muc-dau-tu-duong-sat-toc-do-cao-20241018170129763.htm