Proposing the most feasible implementation plan for the North-South high-speed railway
This is the direction of the Minister of Planning and Investment, Chairman of the State Appraisal Council for the appraisal process of the Pre-Feasibility Study Report of the North-South high-speed railway project.
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Calculate correctly and fully the construction costs
“Because the deadline for submitting the Project Investment Policy Report to the National Assembly must be completed by October 19, 2024 in time for consideration and approval at the 8th Session, the Project appraisal progress must be carried out very urgently, responsibly, with smooth coordination between relevant agencies,” noted Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, who is also Chairman of the State Appraisal Council for the Pre-Feasibility Study Report of the North-South High-Speed Railway Project.
It is known that at the 2nd meeting of the State Appraisal Council for the North-South High-Speed Railway Project held in Hanoi on the afternoon of October 14, members of the Appraisal Council gave their opinions on the Project Pre-Feasibility Study Report submitted by the Ministry of Transport in Submission No. 10625/TTr - BGTVT dated October 2, 2024; listened to opinions on the results of the appraisal of the Project dossier by the appraisal consultant; and the draft Appraisal Result Report.
Commend the responsible working spirit of the project consultant, appraisal consultant, interdisciplinary appraisal expert team and members of the State Appraisal Council when in a very short time they completed the appraisal report; project dossier after explanation; draft Appraisal Result Report ensuring progress and quality.
“This is a very special and important transport infrastructure project in terms of scale and technology, with impacts lasting hundreds of years, so the appraisal process must demonstrate heart, vision and intelligence to be able to recommend and propose quality opinions on the Pre-Feasibility Study Report to competent authorities,” Minister Nguyen Chi Dung noted.
According to Minister Nguyen Chi Dung, the process of appraising and commenting on the Project's Pre-Feasibility Study Report must closely follow the direction of the Politburo, the Party Central Committee and the Government Standing Committee.
Specifically, the Politburo agreed on the policy of investing in a high-speed railway on the North-South axis with the investment plan for the entire route in the form of public investment, speed of 350 km/h, mainly transporting passengers, meeting the dual-use requirements for national defense and security, and being able to transport goods when necessary.
Project investment with high determination, great effort, drastic action, needs to be carefully researched, ensuring feasibility, efficiency, modernity, synchronization, strategic vision... ensuring effective connection of East-West corridors, seaports, airports of the country and connection with countries in the region, first of all China, Laos, Cambodia and Southeast Asia.
In Notice No. 458/TB-VPCP dated October 6, 2024, the Government Standing Committee requested relevant agencies and units to closely follow the investment policy for the entire route with a design speed of 350km/h approved by the Politburo and the Central Executive Committee of the Party to calculate and design appropriate, feasible and effective technical solutions.
Accordingly, the route must be studied to be as straight as possible to reduce costs, ensure exploitation speed, create new development space, save costs; avoid residential areas and large urban areas but must have appropriate connection plans; convenient for the shortest connection to airports and large seaports; ensure convenient connection to the East-West corridor and connection with railways in China, Laos, and Cambodia.
For stations, it is necessary to calculate and determine a large enough area, ensuring a long-term strategic vision to develop full, modern services, and maximize the efficiency of land resources and new development space.
Based on those major orientations, the Minister and Chairman of the State Appraisal Council requested the Ministry of Transport and project consultants to closely coordinate with the appraisal consultants and the interdisciplinary appraisal expert team to focus on clarifying and explaining in a specific and highly convincing manner a number of important issues of the Pre-Feasibility Study Report of the North-South high-speed railway project, including: demand forecast, service scope; preliminary selection of key technologies and techniques and conditions for the supply of materials, raw materials, energy, services, and infrastructure; total investment; capital mobilization plan; specific policy mechanisms, etc.
“We must calculate correctly and fully the construction costs, not embellish the financial picture, especially in the operation phase, to have an effective handling mechanism, even though this is a project with very high socio-economic and national security efficiency. Specific mechanisms need to be clarified, with impact assessments to ensure legal validity and feasibility,” the Minister and Chairman of the State Appraisal Council directed.
Regarding the progress of the Project implementation (preparation and investment implementation within 10 years), the Minister and Chairman of the State Appraisal Council said that this is a very urgent progress, especially in the context of a large-scale, technologically complex, and unprecedented project.
Therefore, the Ministry of Transport, project consultants and relevant units must fully identify risk factors and develop solutions to ensure feasibility of progress as required by the Politburo and the Central Executive Committee.
Because the deadline for submitting the Project Investment Policy Report to the National Assembly must be completed by October 19, 2024 in time for consideration and approval at the 8th Session, the Project appraisal progress must be carried out very urgently, with smooth coordination between relevant agencies.
Minister and Chairman of the State Appraisal Council Nguyen Chi Dung requested the Council members (35 members) to promote their intelligence, objectivity, independence, and high sense of responsibility to the country and people when giving comments and voting on the draft Appraisal Results Report.
Because this is a national project, Minister Nguyen Chi Dung noted that the consideration of the route, number and location of stations requires a comprehensive view, going beyond local thinking to ensure the Project route is as straight as possible to ensure technical criteria and investment efficiency.
The Ministry of Transport urgently studies and fully absorbs the opinions of ministries, branches, the Government Standing Committee and the State Appraisal Council. For the contents that are not accepted, a full and detailed explanation must be provided to convince the State Appraisal Council and competent authorities to approve.
“The progress of appraisal and submission of the Project Investment Policy Report is very urgent, but that does not mean we should delay or ignore the requirements on appraisal quality,” the Minister and Chairman of the State Appraisal Council for the Pre-Feasibility Study Report of the North-South High-Speed Railway Project reminded.
Choose the straightest route possible
It should be added that, in Document No. 10625, the Ministry of Transport proposed a high-speed railway line on the North-South axis with the starting point at Ngoc Hoi station and the ending point at Thu Thiem station, with a length of about 1,545 km.
Based on the planning and research results of the Consultant, the Ministry of Transport proposed the scope of investment of the Project with the starting point in Hanoi (Ngoc Hoi station); the ending point in Ho Chi Minh City (Thu Thiem station), after passing through 20 provinces and cities with a total route length of about 1,541 km.
The project will build a new double-track railway line, 1,435 mm gauge, designed speed of 350 km/h, load capacity of 22.5 tons/axle; build 23 passenger stations, 5 freight stations; high-speed railway for passenger transport, meeting dual-use requirements for national defense and security, and can transport goods when necessary.
The project has a preliminary land use demand of about 10,827 hectares; the project investment form is public investment; the preliminary total investment is about 1,713,594 billion VND (equivalent to 67.34 billion USD).
Project investment capital is capital from the central budget arranged in medium-term periods, capital contributed by localities, mobilized capital with low cost and few constraints, etc.
During the construction and operation process, businesses will be called upon to invest in service and commercial areas at the stations; and invest in additional vehicles for exploitation when needed.
The Ministry of Transport proposed to prepare a Feasibility Study Report in 2025-2026; start construction at the end of 2027; strive to complete the entire route in 2035.
It is known that in Official Dispatch No. 11004/BGTVT-KHDT on the explanation of accepting the opinions of the Government Standing Committee on the Pre-Feasibility Study Report of the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis, the Ministry of Transport said that implementing the opinions of the State Appraisal Council, the investor and consultant have coordinated with localities to review the entire route through the area.
As a result, 18/20 localities have sent documents requesting to maintain the route as in the Pre-Feasibility Study Report; 2/20 localities proposed to adjust some locations compared to the route in the Pre-Feasibility Study Report.
The investor has directed the consultant to receive and complete the project dossier. The result after reviewing the total route length is reduced from 1,545 km to 1,541 km). The project route has been updated by localities in the provincial planning, the Ministry of Planning and Investment has appraised and approved by the Prime Minister in the provincial planning.
“Thus, it can be seen that the route has been carefully studied according to the “straightest possible” option, meeting economic and technical requirements corresponding to the design speed level, ensuring smoothness for passengers during operation,” said Mr. Nguyen Danh Huy, Deputy Minister of Transport.
The leaders of the Ministry of Transport affirmed that they have carefully reviewed the investment to calculate the total investment capital as accurately as possible, reliably and convincingly; and to limit the excess of the total investment according to the request of the Government Standing Committee.
Based on the preliminary selection of technology, techniques, investment scale, the preliminary total investment in the Pre-Feasibility Study Report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions of law on construction investment cost management.
On that basis, the consultant has preliminarily calculated the total investment of the project at about VND 1,713,594 billion (67.34 billion USD), the investment rate is about 43.7 million USD/km. This is the average level compared to some high-speed railway lines in the world with the same operating speed range when converted to the year 2024.
Because the project is implemented over a long period of time (about more than 10 years), the preliminary total investment may fluctuate due to the influence of objective factors (natural disasters, incidents, environment, policy changes, price index changes, etc.) or mainly if the implementation does not meet the schedule, especially site clearance.
“During the Feasibility Study Report preparation phase after the detailed design is available, we will continue to review and calculate the total project investment to ensure accuracy, adequacy, and suitability with the technology and scale of the project investment. In particular, the implementation organization needs to be drastic and closely coordinated with the political system to closely follow the progress,” the leader of the Ministry of Transport shared.
Regarding operating speed, the Ministry of Transport explained in detail the technical requirements of the route with a design speed of 350km/h for operating container ships.
Regarding the scale of the station, the Ministry of Transport explained that the scale of the station must meet the needs of auxiliary activities such as parking lots, connections with other means of transport, etc., with a minimum area according to international practice; stations must calculate and determine a large enough area, ensuring a long-term strategic vision to develop full, modern services, and maximize the efficiency of land resources and new development space, etc.
The Ministry of Transport is responsible for reviewing the total investment, based on the principle of correct calculation, sufficient calculation and compliance with legal regulations, explaining and clarifying the capital mobilization plan and the ability to balance capital for the Project to ensure feasibility and compliance with legal regulations; clarifying the parameters on the investment scale of the Project items based on analysis and assessment of compliance with the standard framework applicable to the Project, the practice of similar projects in the world and in accordance with the current circumstances, natural conditions, and socio-economic conditions of our country.
The Council also requested the Ministry of Transport to clarify and enhance the ability to localize and master high-speed railway technology; in addition, continue to research and evaluate the advantages of public investment compared to other forms, especially for sections that do not have advantages in railway development; - Clarify the feasibility of implementing the Project according to schedule and time of project implementation.
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