By 2030: What are the options for public passenger transport in Hanoi?
VietNamNet•11/10/2024
According to Architect Tran Huy Anh, to develop the public transport system by 2030, Hanoi needs to choose a low-cost, highly efficient model, investing in short-term, medium-term and long-term stages.
In his speech at the National Scientific Conference: "New vision, new opportunities to build a civilized, modern, and globally connected Hanoi Capital", Architect Tran Huy Anh, Standing Member of the Hanoi Architects Association, gave his opinions on the issue of public passenger transport in Hanoi by 2030. 18 billion USD for 2 projects but only nearly 3 million trips per day. Mr. Anh said that in 2024, Hanoi will make a plan to develop the urban railway network (UR). In the period of 2024 - 2030, the city plans to build 96.8km of railway with a total investment demand of about 14.6 billion USD. At the same time, Hanoi will also implement the Project to develop public transport (GTCC) by buses using electricity and green energy (referred to as green buses) in the area. The total cost for the above 2 projects is nearly 18 billion USD. However, architect Tran Huy Anh said that currently, the green bus project and the development of Hanoi's urban railway still have unclear investment sources, while human resources are limited and dependent on foreign technology. In addition, the route planning also has many limitations, is not suitable for travel needs and has poor connection with the inter-provincial railway network.
Nhon - Cau Giay Urban Railway Line. Photo: Hoang Ha
“Therefore, these projects and plans are not feasible in terms of usefulness. They are not attractive and difficult to attract investment from sponsors as well as the social community. Therefore, there needs to be new, more suitable proposals, taking advantage of existing advantages to achieve higher efficiency,” Mr. Anh analyzed. According to him, the development of public transport in Hanoi needs to make the most of existing advantages. In fact, the Green Bus route will run parallel to the Van Cao - Hoa Lac urban railway, serving the satellite city of Hoa Lac and the National University with an area of nearly 3,000 hectares. The state budget has invested billions of USD to accommodate 600,000 people by 2030. “However, by September 2024, there will only be a few tens of thousands of students from a number of universities. It is expected that in the coming years, about 10% of the population will come here. To attract residents, an urban railway line is needed. In 2014, JICA conducted a study on “Data collection survey for BRT bus routes in Hanoi”, showing that the 38km long urban railway line from Van Cao through Lang to Hoa Lac, with a total investment of 2.8 billion USD, is expected to serve 400,000 passengers/day, but it will take 48 years (2016-2064) to recover the investment. In January 2024, Pacific Construction Group (China) and Vietnamese partners signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in researching this route and are urgently developing a plan with a very attractive total investment and implementation time. Although there is an urgency in the next 2-3 years to deploy the urban railway line, to achieve the target of 400,000 passengers/day, more time is needed, along with the completion of other technical, economic and social infrastructure to ensure effective operation,” architect Tran Huy Anh stated. To accelerate Hanoi's public transport by 2030, Mr. Anh said that it is necessary to review and evaluate the effectiveness of the two projects to develop green buses and urban railways. The total investment is nearly 18 billion USD, but only about 3 million trips are recorded each day by urban railways and buses. Choosing a low-cost investment model Mr. Anh said that developing public transport in Hanoi is an opportunity for the social community to enjoy public benefits, while increasing livelihoods and participating in providing low-cost transport services. He cited that Tokyo (Japan) has an urban railway system (underground, above-ground, expressway and inter-provincial railway) with a total length of thousands of kilometers, invested, managed and operated by 12 companies. Initially, the railway lines were publicly owned and managed, then handed over to private companies to operate according to common safety technical standards applied nationwide. Similarly, Seoul (South Korea) has a 1,100km urban railway system, of which the infrastructure (under the rails) is owned by the state, while the above-the-rails part is operated by corporations, accounting for 60-70% (including equipment and operating trains). Notably, after many years of investing in expensive urban railways but lacking passengers, many developing Asian cities have promoted affordable urban railways and integrated multi-modality into low-cost public transport systems. “For example, the JAK LINGKO model of Jakarta (Indonesia) connects all types of public transport: suburban railways, urban railways, BRT, regular buses and minibuses (7 seats), providing public transport services with a single payment card. Urban residents can access different types of public transport at different prices to travel anywhere in the city. The city also has preferential policies to encourage residents to use more public transport,” said Mr. Anh. Integrating the implementation of public transport projects with enhancing access to public benefits and increasing livelihood opportunities for urban residents is the goal of sustainable development. From these models, according to Mr. Anh, the lesson for Hanoi in developing the public transport system by 2030 is to choose a model with low investment costs and high efficiency, investing in short-term, medium-term and long-term stages. Accordingly, all infrastructure under the railway is publicly owned and there is a plan to recover capital before implementation. It is necessary to encourage businesses to invest in all infrastructure equipment, train cars and operations. “Developing public transport integrated with public works and urban reconstruction will form an economy providing urban transport services (carrying people and goods) with the participation of all economic sectors, from large economic groups to technology motorbike riders,” Mr. Anh explained.
Also related to urban railways, in the presentation sent to the workshop by Dr. Khuat Viet Hung and Dr. Vu Linh, Institute of Development Strategy and Transport (Ministry of Transport), the authors said that to complete the total length of 598.5km, of which about 96.8km of urban railways will be put into operation by 2030, Hanoi needs to have appropriate solutions, mechanisms and policies. Regarding capital mobilization, it is necessary to ensure that the city budget plays a leading and decisive role, prioritizing the allocation of resources in the medium-term public investment plan, along with increased revenue and annual expenditure savings. At the same time, it is necessary to effectively exploit resources from land funds to develop the urban railway system. The central budget also needs to balance and allocate targeted additional capital for the Hanoi City budget in the medium-term periods of 2026-2030 and 2031-2034 to invest in the construction of the capital's urban railway system.
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