The high-speed railway on the North-South axis is a symbolic project with strategic significance, especially important in terms of economy, politics and society.
Developing sustainable and modern transportation methods
In the past time, the Party Central Committee and the Politburo have made many conclusions on the investment policy for the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis. In particular, at the 10th Conference of the Party Central Committee, the 13th tenure, the investment policy for the entire route, with a speed of 350km/h, was agreed upon and relevant agencies were assigned to complete the dossier to submit to the 15th National Assembly at the 8th Session for consideration and decision on the policy, some specific mechanisms and policies to mobilize resources and investment procedures for the project.
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| Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang presented the Proposal on investment policy for the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis - Photo: QH |
Presenting the Report on the investment policy of the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis at the 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang said that, implementing Resolution No. 55-NQ/TW dated September 20, 2024 of the 10th Central Committee of the Party, 13th tenure; Conclusion No. 1049/KL-UBTVQH15 dated November 8, 2024 of the National Assembly Standing Committee on the investment policy of the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis and the Preliminary appraisal report of the National Assembly Economic Committee, the Government has directed the Ministry of Transport to receive and complete the Pre-feasibility Study Report and has submitted a Report to the National Assembly on the decision on the investment policy of the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis.
According to Minister Nguyen Van Thang, the project's pre-feasibility study report assessed the domestic and international context and the development of railway infrastructure, and clearly stated the reason why the high-speed railway on the North-South axis was not approved by the National Assembly in 2010 due to concerns about the speed, exploitation plan, and investment resources in the context of the low economic scale in 2010 (GDP was 147 billion USD), and high public debt (56.6% of GDP).
"With the increasing demand for transportation, the economic scale in 2023 will reach 430 billion USD, nearly 3 times higher than in 2010; public debt will be low at about 37% of GDP; the estimated time of construction implementation in 2027, the economic scale will reach 564 billion USD, so investment resources will no longer be a major obstacle," the Minister emphasized.
Based on political foundations, practical foundations, scientific foundations, domestic and international contexts, the project's pre-feasibility study report analyzed and clarified the necessity of investment with 5 reasons including: Realizing the Party's policies and orientations; Resolutions and Conclusions of the Politburo and implementing plans approved by competent authorities to create an important premise to turn our country into a developed, high-income country; strengthening regional connectivity, growth poles, creating spillover momentum, opening up new economic development space; restructuring urban areas, population distribution, economic restructuring; increasing the competitiveness of the economy.
At the same time, ensure transportation needs on the North-South corridor, meet the requirements of socio-economic development; restructure the transportation market share in accordance with the advantages of each mode; create the premise and driving force for the development of the railway industry and supporting industries; develop sustainable, modern and friendly transportation methods, contribute to reducing traffic accidents, environmental pollution, responding to climate change and contributing to ensuring national defense and security.
The head of the Transport sector affirmed that the investment project is consistent with the policies, strategies and socio-economic development plans approved by the Party, National Assembly and Government; consistent with the national master plan, railway network development plan, plans of relevant sectors, regions and localities.
The high-speed railway line starts in Hanoi (Ngoc Hoi station) and ends in Ho Chi Minh City (Thu Thiem station), passing through 20 provinces and cities; the length of the line is about 1,541 km. Construct a new double-track railway line, 1,435 mm gauge, electrified, designed speed 350 km/h, load capacity 22.5 tons/axle; transport passengers, meet dual-use requirements for national defense and security, and can transport goods when necessary.
Railway running on rails, using distributed power train technology for passenger trains, centralized power for freight trains; signal information equivalent to the system currently used in developed countries operating high-speed railways.
Preliminary total land use demand of the project is about 10,827 hectares, resettled population is about 120,836 people; preliminary total investment is about 1,713,548 billion VND (about 67.34 billion USD).
It is expected that the state budget capital will be allocated in the medium-term public investment plan to complete the project by 2035, with capital allocated for about 12 years (from 2025 to 2037), averaging about 5.6 billion USD per year, equivalent to about 1.3% of GDP in 2023, about 1.0% of GDP in 2027 (when the project starts). The implementation process will mobilize diverse legal capital sources for investment.
Regarding implementation progress, the project will complete the preparation and approval of the feasibility study and design report in 2025-2026; start construction in 2027; and strive to basically complete the entire route in 2035.
Opening up new economic development space
Assessing the effectiveness of the project, Minister Nguyen Van Thang affirmed that the high-speed railway on the North-South axis is a symbolic project with strategic significance, especially important in terms of economy, politics, society, national defense, security and international integration.
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| The National Assembly listened to the Report on the investment policy of the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis. |
Investing in the high-speed railway on the North-South axis will bring great benefits to the economy such as creating the premise and driving force for national development in the new era, enhancing national competitiveness; meeting transportation needs, restructuring transportation in the direction of maximizing the advantages of each mode.
In addition, it opens up new economic development space and new resources through effective exploitation of land funds; develops construction industry, construction materials industry; develops tourism, services, and urban areas; reduces environmental pollution; reduces traffic accidents; creates millions of jobs; during the construction period, it is estimated to contribute to increasing the country's average GDP by about 0.97 percentage points/year.
Regarding financial efficiency, preliminary calculations show that in the first 4 years of operation, the state needs to support part of the infrastructure maintenance costs with economic career capital similar to the current national railway system; the number of years to pay back the capital is about 33.61 years.
Regarding the effectiveness of ensuring national defense and security: The high-speed railway creates an additional vertical axis for maneuvering in case of emergency, meeting the requirements of the new situation. In addition, with mitigation solutions, the project ensures compliance with the provisions of the Law on Environmental Protection.
To ensure human resources for railways in general and high-speed railways on the North-South axis in particular, the Government has directed the development of a railway human resources development project. In particular, for high-speed railways, a human resources training program is proposed according to 3 types of training with 4 levels of qualifications for 5 subjects.
Along with that, to ensure the project's objectives and requirements and to suit the conditions of our country, the Government proposes to mobilize maximum domestic resources in combination with foreign resources to implement the project. On the other hand, to ensure the completion of the project and promote investment efficiency, in the process of implementing the next steps, the Government will direct the implementing agencies according to their functions and tasks.
"To successfully implement and soon complete the entire project as scheduled, the project proposes 19 special policies under the authority of the National Assembly and 5 special policies under the authority of the Government" - Minister Nguyen Van Thang clearly stated.
Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh said that, implementing the assignment of the National Assembly Standing Committee, the Economic Committee was assigned to preside over the examination of the investment policy of the North-South high-speed railway project. Following the procedures prescribed by law, the Standing Committee of the Economic Committee organized a meeting with a number of experts, scientists, and associations on the above content, coordinated with a number of relevant agencies to organize a survey team on the project, and held a plenary session to examine the project's investment policy.
"The project meets the criteria of important national projects under the authority of the National Assembly to decide on investment policies and basically meets the requirements for documents as prescribed by the Law on Public Investment" - Mr. Vu Hong Thanh assessed, at the same time stating that the Economic Committee agrees with the necessity of investing in the project with the political and legal bases and reasons stated in Submission No. 767/TTr-CP.
Regarding the scope, scale of investment and preliminary design, the project is basically in line with the Railway Network Plan for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050, so the Economic Committee basically agrees with the Government's proposal. However, it is recommended that in the feasibility study stage, 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 and with the regional and international railway network.
| Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang affirmed: The goal of investing in the construction of a high-speed railway is to meet transportation needs, contribute to restructuring the transportation market share on the North-South corridor in an optimal and sustainable manner, create the premise and driving force for socio-economic development, and ensure national defense and security. |
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Source: https://congthuong.vn/bai-1-cong-trinh-co-tinh-bieu-tuong-y-nghia-chien-luoc-359513.html
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