Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang – Photo: Quochoi.vn
At the discussion session on the socio-economic situation on the morning of October 26, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang provided more information on investment in developing transport infrastructure.
Ho Chi Minh City connects the West in just one hour
According to Mr. Thang, the Government has reported to the National Assembly for consideration and approval of the North-South high-speed railway project (from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City). At the same time, there are currently three major railway projects being implemented, including the Lao Cai – Hanoi – Hai Phong, Lang Son – Hanoi, and Mong Cai – Ha Long – Hai Phong routes.
For the railway line belonging to the North-South railway, Lang Son - Hanoi, it is proposed to operate standard gauge for both passengers and freight, with a speed of about 220km/h.
For the Ho Chi Minh City – Can Tho route, the Ministry of Transport is preparing to complete a pre-feasibility report to submit to the Government and the National Assembly. This route will operate standard gauge railway at a speed of 190km/h for passengers and about 120km/h for freight.
The railway line is expected to be 174km long, with an investment of 9 billion USD. If this line is completed, it is expected to help shorten the travel time from Ho Chi Minh City to the West to only one hour.
Regarding the upgrade of 2-lane highways, Mr. Thang said the Government has given very strong direction during this term. Therefore, the ministry is upgrading 2-lane routes to 4 lanes and some limited 4-lane routes to full and larger ones.
Mr. Thang shared that when he went on business trips abroad, in Europe, many countries only had 2 lanes, or 4 lanes and no emergency lanes. However, traffic awareness was very good, so the minister thought that it was not necessary for highways to be big and wide.
Because statistics also show that more than 90% of traffic accidents are caused by the awareness of traffic participants. So the bigger the road and the lower the awareness, the more catastrophic the accident.
Sea sand will be widely announced as construction material by the end of this year.
Regarding landfill materials, there is currently no shortage of reserves in the Mekong Delta. However, due to the simultaneous implementation of many expressways during this term, demand has increased dramatically, so sometimes following the procedures takes a lot of time.
Up to now, river sand has been licensed for about 40 million m3 , currently about 32 million m3 are still being licensed by localities. With sea sand replacing the North-South expressways, Soc Trang has now made 5.5 million m3 for the Soc Trang-Can Tho expressway, which will significantly reduce the pressure on river sand.
With sea sand reserves of about 14 billion m3 in Soc Trang, the ministry has piloted the expansion of highways in the North and Central regions. By the end of this year, sea sand will be widely announced as a construction material for the whole country.
In response to the proposal from many provinces in the West to build overpasses for some expressways, the minister affirmed that the ministry is very eager and is studying it vigorously. However, he said the biggest difficulty is the cost.
Because according to calculations, the price is 3.1 times higher than usual, even if we try to pull it down, it will still be 2.5 times higher. If we do it in the current difficult budget situation, it will not be possible.
At the same time, the characteristics of the West are immense and very beautiful. The overpass is only higher than the road surface, so the development space needs to be studied.
In fact, there are many countries that build elevated roads, but now there are problems with space, so careful research is needed to ensure sustainability.
Building traffic culture
Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang said that along with investment in transport infrastructure, there must be many solutions. It is the participation of the entire political system that can change traffic habits and culture.
“In Singapore, the roads are so clean that even holding a piece of paper in your hand and throwing it down feels awkward. Awareness is a process, and there must be a focused solution to build a traffic culture,” said Mr. Thang.
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