Proposal to clarify the 'straightest possible' route of the North-South high-speed railway project

Illustration

The National Assembly's Economic Committee has conducted a preliminary examination of the investment policy for the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis.

Clarify the route according to the principle of "straightest possible", especially the section through Nam Dinh

Accordingly, the Government proposed the project investment scope with the starting point in Hanoi (Ngoc Hoi station); the end point in Ho Chi Minh City (Thu Thiem station); double-track railway, 1,435mm gauge, electrification, design speed 350km/h, load capacity 22.5 tons/axle.

The main line length is about 1,541km, accordingly the scope and scale of investment of the project is basically consistent with the railway network planning for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050, thus basically agreeing with the Government's proposal.

However, the Standing Committee of the Economic Committee proposed to clarify the plan to connect the high-speed railway line with the national railway network, urban railway and other transport systems; and to connect with the regional and international railway network.

There are suggestions to supplement and explain the comparison options as a basis for choosing the route according to the Government's proposal, and at the same time clarify the route according to the principle of "as straight as possible", especially the section passing through Nam Dinh province, to ensure the effectiveness of the project.

There are suggestions to consider increasing the investment ratio for the project's bridge structure length to ensure safety in operation and limit impacts on the environment and ecosystem.

Request clarification on high-speed rail ticket prices

According to the Standing Committee of the Economic Committee, the project, when put into operation with advantages in terms of time, ticket price and other advantages that this mode of transport brings, will greatly affect the efficiency of short-haul flights (such as Hanoi - Vinh, Ho Chi Minh City - Nha Trang...).

This will affect the investment and development of future airports, however the pre-feasibility study report has not clarified this content.

There are suggestions to clarify the feasibility and effectiveness of calculating ticket prices at 60-70% of the average ticket prices of airlines operating on the same route.

Clarify how to calculate the full-trip ticket price (many passengers do not travel the entire route), compare it with similar high-speed railway routes in other countries, while Vietnam has not yet mastered the technology and has to import and invest in many items, which may lead to higher ticket prices than the actual price...

The project has the largest total investment ever

The preliminary total investment of the project is about 1,713,548 billion VND (about 67.34 billion USD), the project with the largest total investment ever in our country.

This project is more than 5 times larger than the Long Thanh airport project and nearly 3 times the target of building 5,000km of expressway.

During the 2026-2030 period, public investment resources need to prioritize continued investment in important national projects and transitional projects from the 2021-2025 period, and national target programs.

Along with that, urban railway projects in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, railway routes connecting transit with international seaports, connecting China, Laos...

With the huge capital demand for project implementation, to ensure resources, it is necessary to synchronously implement many solutions to mobilize resources, increase budget revenue, cut regular expenditures and possibly accept an increase in state budget deficit.

Therefore, in order to have a basis for the National Assembly to consider and decide, the Standing Committee of the 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.

Proposal to update unit price of locomotive equipment with speed of 350km/h

Regarding the preliminary total investment, some opinions say that according to the Government's proposal, the project's investment rate is about 43.7 million USD/km and is the average level compared to some high-speed railway lines in the world converted to the year 2024.

However, it is proposed to supplement data on investment rates of each project by investment year and how to convert to 2024.

There are opinions that project management costs, consulting and other costs are equal to 12% of the total construction costs and equipment costs of the project, but the basis, basis, evidence and comparison with similar projects have not been clarified.

The unit price of passenger train cars in the preliminary total investment is referring to the average of projects in the world for train cars with speeds of 320km/h and 280km/h.

It is recommended to update the unit price of equipment with a 350km/h speed locomotive accordingly (although the project operating speed is 320km/h, the locomotive must still be able to reach a maximum speed of 350km/h according to the investment target) and separate loan interest from reserves according to current regulations.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/de-nghi-lam-ro-huong-tuyen-thang-nhat-co-the-cua-du-an-duong-sat-toc-do-cao-bac-nam-20241107193113885.htm