There is still much work to be done to start the North-South high-speed railway project in 2027, from investment procedures, establishing a management model to human resources. All of these tasks need to be thoroughly implemented to ensure progress and quality.
Priority consulting options
In the days leading up to Tet, at the Railway Project Management Board headquarters, the office lights remained on until late at night. Tet holiday was something no staff or specialist dared to think about.
The North-South high-speed railway project strives to be basically completed by 2035. Illustration photo: AI.
"The project has been approved by the National Assembly for investment, and everyone has started preparing for the next work items, in parallel with the investment preparation work for the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway project, which has a very urgent start time," said Mr. Chu Van Tuan, Deputy Director of the Railway Project Management Board.
According to Mr. Tuan, the Ministry of Transport is drafting and consulting the Government to issue a resolution to direct ministries and local branches to implement tasks, especially policies related to mobilizing investment resources, and shortening progress.
In the immediate future, priority will be given to the organization and selection of consultants to support project management and survey consulting, and preparation of feasibility study reports.
The Ministry of Transport will also work with localities to review details of the route, stations and preliminary scope of site clearance so that localities can proactively build resettlement areas and promote site clearance progress.
Clean premises are essential
According to Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Chung, former Director of the State Appraisal Department of Construction Quality (Ministry of Construction), the project investment policy has been approved, the immediate thing to do is to prepare a feasibility study report and establish a front-end engineering design (FEED).
To ensure accurate FEED design, based on the preliminary route plan in the pre-feasibility report, the consultant needs to conduct a detailed survey of the geological and hydrological conditions of the project. If the survey is not done well, adverse factors will occur during the construction process and the route will need to be adjusted, which will be very complicated.
Along with that, site clearance is the next work item that needs special attention. This is one of the biggest barriers of transportation projects in recent times.
In addition to land compensation, many new conflicts may arise during implementation: resettlement policies, compensation price differences between localities/regions; forest and forest land conversion. Not to mention, the project needs to relocate a large amount of technical infrastructure to have a clean construction site.
Assessing this as a particularly large project, it is necessary to select foreign consultants with experience in preparing feasibility study reports. However, Mr. Chung also noted that the design process, in order to be successful, requires the participation of domestic consulting units.
Vietnamese engineers will be the ones who understand the most about the specifics of engineering geology and hydrology. In the feasibility study report preparation step, foreign consultants need to play the role of commander-in-chief and work organizer. The implementation stage should be carried out by Vietnamese consulting units.
If necessary, competent authorities should consider appointing strong Vietnamese consulting units to participate in project preparation with international consultants.
Elevate project management
Emphasizing that the project management board is the key to the success or failure of the project, according to Mr. Chung, the biggest challenge for the project is the short implementation time. Without general commanders with scientific knowledge of site organization, understanding the specifics of the construction area, and choosing the appropriate landing point for each work item, it will be very difficult to meet the set schedule.
"Upgrading the project management board is something that needs to be considered soon," said Mr. Chung, adding that the project management board is like a general engineer who understands all work issues. In the context that project managers are learning and accumulating "real-life" experience, hiring foreign experts is necessary.
In fact, in Vietnam, some large enterprises such as Conteccons have hired experienced experts to lead the construction of the Landmark 81 project; Deo Ca has hired foreign experts to advise on the construction of a large mountain tunnel. These projects were all led by Vietnamese enterprises and have been completed and highly appreciated by investors.
The need to reorganize the project management organization is also an issue raised by Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, former Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly Economic Committee, regarding project implementation.
"A question also needs to be asked: Who is the project investor? For road projects, the investor is assigned to the road project management board. But high-speed railway is a unified, centralized project, especially in terms of infrastructure and signal information, and cannot be divided into projects like roads.
Does the project management board under the Ministry of Transport have enough capacity to be the investor? The project management model needs to be carefully studied," Mr. Phuc stated his opinion.
Human resources are the core factor
Regarding human resources, Mr. Phuc said that the current overarching challenge is that we must soon have human resources at all stages. The design speed of 350km/h will require a high level of technology. Safety is the top priority, so quality must also be the top priority, from the project to the people performing it.
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Hien, Deputy Director of the Institute of Transport Strategy and Development (Ministry of Transport), preliminary calculations show that the 10-year construction period will require more than 200,000 workers of all levels.
In the immediate future, the urgent task is to select at least 300 - 500 young cadres with professional capacity from state management agencies to send for overseas training in all positions and specialties.
In 2025, at least 50 staff must be trained. By the time the feasibility study report is approved, about 500 staff will be trained to participate in project management, appraisal and approval.
With the direct workforce, the current labor market, trained, can supply enough for the job market in surveying, designing, and constructing the construction work under the rails. For the human resources serving the design, construction of the railway and operation, deep expertise and high level are required. Currently, some schools in Vietnam have provided basic training, which can meet the requirements. However, the training needs to continue to be standardized and more specialized.
"According to international experience, countries prepare human resources very early, as soon as the technology and general contractor are identified, so that they can go abroad to transfer technology and learn," said Ms. Hien, adding that establishing a specialized center for high-speed railways is also necessary.
According to Mr. Pham Huu Son, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Transport Design Consulting Corporation (TEDI), after the National Assembly decides on the investment policy and the Government issues a resolution on implementation, the project is expected to be implemented in 3 phases.
Phase 1 is to prepare a feasibility study (FS) report and a technical master design to serve the preparation of EPC General Contractor (FEED) bidding documents. This phase will be implemented during 2025 - 2027.
Phase 2 is construction and equipment procurement (from 2027 - 2035).
Phase 3 is trial operation and commercial exploitation (2036).
Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/chay-dua-khoi-cong-duong-sat-toc-do-cao-bac-nam-192250121092959944.htm
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