The cost of operating and maintaining the North-South high-speed railway is about 1 billion USD/year.

The North-South high-speed railway project, with a total investment of about 67 billion USD, will be completed in 2036, with annual operation and maintenance costs of about 1 billion USD.

On November 13, the National Assembly discussed at the group the investment policy for the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis.

Examining the project investment policy sent to National Assembly delegates, the Economic Committee said that the project is basically consistent with the Railway Network Planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050.

whole scene.jpg — The Economic Committee held its 20th plenary session to review the investment policy for the North-South high-speed railway project. Photo: National Assembly

Basically agreeing with the proposal, the Economic Committee proposed that the Government direct relevant agencies to carefully review and select the optimal option to connect the high-speed railway line with the national railway network, urban railway, other transport systems as well as with the regional and international railway network.

Regarding socio-economic and financial efficiency, the Economic Committee proposed to clarify the calculation bases for forecasting the project's transportation demand, when in fact, in the past, the forecast of transportation demand of many BOT transport projects had a large difference compared to reality, leading to ineffectiveness in financial plans and requiring adjustments to project contracts.

High-speed railway in Laos. Photo: Hoang Ha

The Economic Committee cited the report of the State Appraisal Council stating that revenue and revenue growth are forecasted to be high, posing many potential risks. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully review to properly assess the actual financial performance of the project and the possibility that the state budget will have to compensate for future losses for transport business activities on the high-speed railway.

The total investment of the project is more than 1.7 million billion VND (about 67 billion USD). The total preliminary investment of the project exceeds (by 114%) the total medium-term public investment capital of the central budget for the period 2021 - 2025.

According to the pre-feasibility study report, after the expected completion date of the project (2035), from 2036 to 2066, the annual operating and maintenance costs of this railway line will be over 25,000 billion VND and the payment plan is unclear.

Therefore, in order to have a basis for the National Assembly to consider and decide, the Economic Committee requests the Government to report more clearly on the capital allocation plan and the ability to balance the state budget capital used for the project.

According to the Economic Committee, the project plays an important role, has a long-term strategic nature, has a deep and wide impact on all aspects of our country's socio-economic development, is very large in scale, requires complex technical technology, and is being implemented for the first time in Vietnam.

Therefore, to ensure the feasibility and effectiveness of the project, the Economic Committee believes that allowing the application of some specific and special mechanisms and policies is very necessary.

The Government proposed 19 groups of specific and special mechanisms and policies other than those prescribed by current laws to implement the project. According to the Economic Committee, the proposed mechanisms and policies are basically necessary, some of which have been approved by the National Assembly in the past.

In particular, the Economic Committee believes that the project has a very large total investment, so a change of less than 10% of the total investment (about 171,000 billion VND) is a very large amount of money, affecting the state budget balance, budget deficit and public debt in the medium term and annually. Therefore, it needs to be considered and decided by the National Assembly to ensure overall balance.

To ensure the urgency of the project, the Economic Committee proposes that the National Assembly consider authorizing the National Assembly Standing Committee to consider and decide on matters under the authority of the National Assembly and report at the nearest National Assembly session.

North-South high-speed railway: “Please don't just talk about the favorable direction”

If designing a high-speed railway with a passenger capacity of 350km/h, it is advisable to hire contractors, engineers, managers, train drivers and high-quality skilled workers from countries like Japan, said Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, former Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic Committee.

High-speed rail: Work desk, no back desk

Late on the afternoon of November 4, after the National Assembly session ended, the Economic Committee held its 20th plenary session to examine the investment policy for the North-South high-speed railway project.