Race to start two major railway projects

Minister of Transport Tran Hong Minh requested units to speed up investment preparation work and soon start construction of the North-South high-speed railway and the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong railway.

Lots to do right away

On the afternoon of December 12, at the meeting to deploy tasks for December, reporting to the Minister on the preparation for investment in the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis, Mr. Luu Quang Thin, Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Investment (KH-DT) said that in order to start construction in 2027, the Railway Project Management Board needs to promptly deploy a draft resolution to implement the Resolution of the National Assembly. In particular, it is necessary to identify specific tasks of ministries, branches and localities to collect opinions before submitting to the Government in December 2024.

Minister Tran Hong Minh gave a speech at the Ministry of Transport's working conference on the afternoon of December 12.

According to Mr. Thin, relevant agencies and units need to soon select a consulting contractor to prepare a feasibility study report, as a basis for carrying out the next steps.

Regarding the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway project with a total investment of more than 8 billion USD, Mr. Thin said that the Prime Minister requested the construction start date to be in 2025.

According to Mr. Thin, this is a huge pressure. Normally, the time to prepare for an investment project is about 3-4 years. To meet this schedule, there are 7 work items that need to be completed: Preparing and approving the project proposal; preparing, appraising and approving the investment policy; submitting the feasibility report to the Prime Minister for approval; negotiating and signing the loan agreement; approving the technical design; site clearance...

Regarding the roadmap for implementing investment preparation procedures, the Railway Project Management Board needs to complete and submit the project proposal to the Ministry of Transport before December 18, 2024. The Department of Planning and Investment will advise and send it to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance before December 25, 2024 and submit it to the Prime Minister for approval in January 2025.

In December 2024, the Railway Project Management Board needs to submit a pre-feasibility study report to the Ministry of Transport for comments, and complete it before January 15, 2025.

The Department of Planning and Investment will advise the Prime Minister to appraise the pre-feasibility study report before January 31, 2025; complete the dossier for the Government to submit to the National Assembly before March 31, 2025 and submit to the National Assembly for approval of the investment policy at the May 2025 session.

Vietnam Railway Authority coordinates with Railway Project Management Board to complete the investment policy project dossier and send it to the Ministry of Transport in December 2024 to get opinions from relevant agencies; strives to report to the Politburo in March 2025.

Research on increasing resources for project management board

Directing at the conference, Minister of Transport Tran Hong Minh emphasized that the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway project must strive to start construction in 2025 as directed.

The Minister requested the Deputy Minister in charge to direct the unit to clarify the contents related to project investment work, as a basis for the Ministry's leaders to work with partners and promote the implementation process.

"With the high-speed railway project, in addition to completing the procedures for selecting consultants to prepare a feasibility report, it is necessary to study and increase resources and capacity for the project management unit. To ensure the progress and quality of the project, it is necessary to consult and learn from developed countries about management and implementation methods. It is possible to study the establishment of a general engineering board or select a chief engineer/chief architect," the Minister suggested.

At the conference, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Danh Huy said that the North-South Expressway project, phase 2, has a total investment of only about 1/8 of the high-speed railway project, but it requires the participation of 7 project management boards.

With a total investment of over 67 billion USD, high technical requirements, high synchronization, and a huge workload, the current staffing levels at project management boards are difficult to meet. Therefore, it is necessary to soon have appropriate solutions to increase resources.

Mobilizing domestic consulting force

Speaking with Giao thong Newspaper, Mr. Pham Huu Son, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Transport Design Consulting Corporation (TEDI), said that after the National Assembly decided on the investment policy for the high-speed railway project and the Government issued a Resolution on implementation, the project is expected to continue 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 the EPC General Contractor (FEED) bidding documents with the following tasks: Develop tasks to select Project Management Consultant, FS Consultant and FEED Design; Invite bids, select consulting units; Deploy survey work, prepare FS and FEED design; Review, appraise, approve FS and FEED design and prepare EPC bidding documents. This phase will be implemented during 2025-2027.

Phase 2 is construction and equipment procurement (from 2027-2035), including the following tasks: Bidding, selection of EPC contractor; negotiation, contract signing and implementation of construction; construction; procurement of vehicles and equipment; technology reception and transfer.

Phase 3 is trial operation and commercial operation (2036) with the following tasks: Trial operation; system safety assessment and commercial operation.

In order for the project to be implemented on schedule, expected to start construction in 2027 and basically complete in 2035, a very important special mechanism has been reported by the Government to the National Assembly for approval, which is that the investor is allowed to establish a FEED design instead of a basic design in the project feasibility study report.

This mechanism will help shorten the progress by about 1 year compared to the normal process.

Assessing the challenge of phase 1 is mobilizing consulting forces to focus on surveying, investigating, and researching to clarify the basic parameters of the project, TEDI leaders noted that if we rely entirely on foreign consulting forces, the start of work will be delayed to a certain extent.

"For some of the above work items, domestic consultants can completely handle them, so it is necessary to consider separating suitable work items to mobilize domestic consultants for early implementation," TEDI leader commented.

Focus on completing 3,000km of highways and Long Thanh airport

On the afternoon of December 12, Minister Tran Hong Minh chaired the first meeting at the Ministry of Transport. After listening to the reports of four deputy ministers on key tasks that need to be prioritized and four thematic reports on streamlining the apparatus, Tet transportation, project progress, and investment preparation for two railway projects, the Minister gave specific instructions.

Directing the implementation of key projects, Minister Tran Hong Minh requested investors and project management boards to focus on removing difficulties and completing the target of 3,000km of expressway in accordance with the direction of the Prime Minister.

In particular, leaders of the Ministry and specialized management departments must "roll up their sleeves" with investors and contractors to research solutions to shorten the time for loading weak soil in the Can Tho - Ca Mau section project. The shortening of progress must go hand in hand with ensuring quality; Removing site obstacles in some projects such as: Bien Hoa - Vung Tau, Khanh Hoa - Buon Ma Thuot.

Regarding the Long Thanh international airport project, the assessment of the progress of component project 3 and component project 4 has not met the requirements. The Minister proposed to study the establishment of a working group to coordinate in removing difficulties.

The Deputy Minister in charge must regularly inspect and urge progress with the spirit: Whatever can be resolved on site must be resolved immediately, striving to complete the project synchronously before December 31, 2025.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/chay-dua-khoi-cong-hai-du-an-duong-sat-lon-192241212232316118.htm