On the morning of November 13, the National Assembly discussed in groups the North-South high-speed railway project. According to delegate Nguyen Manh Hung, standing member of the National Assembly's Economic Committee, the project is very necessary and has great social benefits.
Delegate Nguyen Manh Hung, Standing Member of the Economic Committee of the National Assembly
However, Mr. Hung is also concerned about the project's management capacity, operating personnel, technology transfer and technology mastery, so that Vietnam can be self-reliant in building a railway industry operated by Vietnamese people and handling problems themselves.
“The project is so big that people are very worried,” Mr. Hung said, citing the example of the Cat Linh – Ha Dong urban railway project, which officially started in 2011 and was expected to be completed in 2015, but it took five ministers and 12 missed deadlines to officially start. The initial estimated capital for the project was 553 million USD, but later increased to 868 million USD, a huge increase in the estimate.
The Nhon – Hanoi Railway Station project has also missed 14 deadlines, starting in 2006 and completing in 2010, but to date the entire line has not been put into operation.
“Both urban railway projects, although not comparable to high-speed railways, are time-consuming and cost-intensive. Therefore, careful preparation is needed to complete the high-speed railway project,” Mr. Hung raised the issue.
The Standing Member of the Economic Committee was also concerned when “the dossier presented and evaluated by the Ministry of Transport was very optimistic and rosy”. He hoped for “a sufficient dose of assessment of the risks that may be encountered during the project implementation process regarding capital, human resources, site clearance, resettlement, technology, etc., clearly identifying risks and providing solutions to handle arising issues.
In addition, the 2-year project preparation period is too short. The precedent of 12 previous major projects in the industry and trade sector was that the preparation and pre-feasibility study stages were “too simple”, so many unforeseen problems arose during implementation, causing difficulties.
Venerable Thich Duc Thien discusses at the group
Comparing the North-South high-speed railway to “a sacred dragon for the country to develop in the new era”, monk Thich Duc Thien is also concerned that similar projects that depend on capital, engineering, and technology will all miss their deadlines.
He believes that it is necessary to prepare carefully both capital and technology when implementing the project. “Do not use the phrase “missed appointment, missed beat”. Construction stages, using a really solid contractor to keep on schedule, is also a way to prevent waste and improve the efficiency of capital use”, said monk Thich Duc Thien.
“Loan no more than 30%, cheap and less dependent”
Explaining to delegates at the discussion group, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang said that in the past, some metro lines had encountered delays and cost overruns. “When researching high-speed railways, we did a very thorough job, and I personally was also interested in clarifying the causes of the delays,” said Mr. Thang.
According to Mr. Thang, there are three main reasons: investment preparation, site clearance and partner selection. Previous metro projects were inexperienced and had no idea how to implement them, plus the ODA loan mechanism required constraints on choosing a lending partner, which was a huge disadvantage.
“With high-speed railways, the choice of partners must be in the direction of finding contractors with good quality, reasonable prices, and forced technology transfer, not depending on foreign loans,” said Minister Thang.
Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang
Regarding technology transfer, according to him, there were many opinions in the past that foreign partners should be required to transfer technology. However, the Government and the Ministry of Transport agreed to select a number of large enterprises under the Ministry of National Defense and a number of private enterprises, designating them as national enterprises to receive technology transfer and participate in the project.
“Core technology is not necessary because we only have one high-speed railway line. If we only focus on receiving transfer and researching core technology, it is not necessary,” Mr. Thang said. However, maintenance and repair technology must be done, because this field costs a lot of money and expenses. If we depend on foreign partners, it will be very costly. Vietnamese enterprises must definitely take charge and be the masters.
Speed 350 km/h for passengers only, no cargo
Delegate To Van Tam (Kon Tum delegation) wondered: Is a train designed at a speed of 350 km/h effective and safe for transporting goods?
Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang explains the project
According to Minister Thang, the train is designed with a speed of 350 km/h “only to carry passengers, not cargo” and is only used for dual purposes when necessary, serving national security and defense. The reason, according to Mr. Thang, is the experience of countries like Japan, where the shinkansen train runs at 300 km/h, but also only carries passengers, because carrying cargo is “very risky and unsafe”.
“All countries recommend against running passenger and freight trains together due to the risk of safety loss and a huge reduction in transport efficiency,” the Minister of Transport stated. Accordingly, if the freight train speed is only 80-100 km/h, the appropriate solution is to upgrade the existing railway to transport goods.
Besides, according to the calculation of the Ministry of Transport, with the cargo flow by 2050, the transportation demand along the North-South axis is only over 18 million tons/year, the old railway can completely handle it, not to mention coastal sea transport and road transport.
How many stations does the 5:30 train stop at?
According to the design, the train will run from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City in 5 hours and 30 minutes with 23 stations. Minister Thang said there will be many different exploitation options. With a railway speed of 350 km/h, the train will only stop at 5 stations. With a lower option (average 280 km/h), it will stop at many stations for people to choose from, with routes such as Hanoi - Vinh, Ho Chi Minh City - Nha Trang. According to the design, there will be 85 trains, but when demand increases, the operating company or private enterprise can invest in more trains and rent tracks to run.
Thanhnien.vn
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bo-truong-gtvt-noi-gi-ve-noi-lo-duong-sat-toc-do-cao-lo-hen-nhu-metro-185241113121213051.htm
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