North-South high-speed railway before historic moment: How to run straight to Can Tho?

No plan to connect 2 "super" railways yet

According to the draft pre-feasibility study report, the North-South high-speed railway project is 1,541 km long. The investment scope of the project has its starting point in Hanoi, which is the Ngoc Hoi station complex. This is the southern passenger and freight transport hub of the Hanoi railway hub. The final point in Ho Chi Minh City is Thu Thiem station - the eastern passenger transport hub of the Ho Chi Minh City railway hub. The Government's viewpoint is that in addition to the investment scope from the project's starting point in Hanoi to the final point in Ho Chi Minh City, the Ministry of Transport needs to consider and study the plan to extend the high-speed railway line from Mong Cai to Ca Mau.

The dream of a North-South high-speed railway is about to come true

Meanwhile, in the southern direction, the Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho high-speed railway is also being accelerated by enterprises and localities, expected to be completed before 2035. The proposed route has a design speed of about 190 km/h for passenger trains and 120 km/h for freight trains. The Can Tho - Ca Mau railway project has also been proposed, but the Ministry of Transport assessed that it is not really urgent because there is currently a fairly complete expressway network, prioritizing the implementation of the Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho route first. If this railway line is completed on time, it will catch up with the North - South route, creating a high-speed double-track railway with the same gauge of 1,435 mm running from Hanoi to Can Tho. However, while the main station of Ho Chi Minh City in Thu Thiem is the end point of the North - South route, the first station of the Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho route is An Binh station (in Binh Duong). These two stations are about 20 km apart.

An official from the HCM City Department of Transport informed: Currently, the TEDI SOUTH consortium and the Transport Development Investment Consulting Center (CCDTI) are supporting the Railway Department to complete the planning of railway routes and stations in the HCM City hub area. The consulting unit proposed to separate the freight train and passenger train routes.

Specifically, freight trains entering the hub area will run along the belt railway, connecting the North-South high-speed railway freight train to the Ho Chi Minh City railway hub area in the direction of connecting to Trang Bom station. Passenger trains directly serving people will be planned deep into the city center for convenient access. Accordingly, organizing the North-South high-speed railway passenger train connecting Thu Thiem station and Tan Kien station through the southern area of ​​the city; organizing the operation of intra-suburban passenger trains, inter-regional passenger trains/local trains, and inter-city passenger trains through the central station of Saigon/Hoa Hung.

In case of adding a railway section (interconnected and passenger transport) according to the Planning of Ho Chi Minh City, it is possible to run urban railway/national railway trains connecting the two main stations (Thu Thiem station - Tan Kien station) and connecting to Can Tho direction. Pick up, drop off or organize domestic - suburban passenger trains to satellite cities in the directions of Tay Ninh, Can Tho (running through the city center). This is an option to use national railway to run domestic - suburban passenger trains.

However, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport later sent a document to the Ministry of Transport requesting the Ministry to assign the Railway Department to clarify the feasibility of arranging the An Binh - Binh Trieu - Saigon - Tan Kien railway section, which is more than 30 km long and "through the heart" of Ho Chi Minh City in the planning of the railway hub. At the same time, clarify the removal of the proposal for the Thu Thiem - Tan Kien section connecting the two railway hub stations of Thu Thiem and Tan Kien (compared to previous proposals), the plan to organize the interconnection of railway lines in the entire network of the Ho Chi Minh City hub area, and the organization of the connection between the high-speed railway on the North - South axis and the Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho railway.

"Straightening" the Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho route?

Engineer Vu Thang, a bridge and road expert, assessed this as a huge problem because the transport capacity of the North-South high-speed railway is very strong, which will push a huge amount of passengers and goods to Thu Thiem station, including many passengers and goods along the route from Hanoi who need to go to Can Tho. These passengers will have to get off at Thu Thiem station, then find a car to go to An Binh station and wait for the train schedule to depart. Along with that, the shipper of this route will have to transfer cars, unload goods, increase the tip, wait for many procedures to check the goods and pay the fare, then rent a truck, buy a new ticket, wait for the train to be set up, and when there are enough trips, they can rent a car to transport them back to the warehouse in Can Tho.

Direction of Ho Chi Minh City – Can Tho high-speed railway

“There are so many expensive and troublesome surcharges for customers that they do not choose to take the train, but instead they can switch to taking a car on the expressway to their home in the West. If someone has a house along the My Tho, Tan An route, or in more remote areas, taking the express train is not worth the effort compared to taking a direct car. In the opposite direction, customers from Can Tho, My Tho, Tan An who want to go north to the capital also have to calculate and choose a similarly difficult route. As a result, the railway loses a large number of passengers, society spends more on transport cars, and Ho Chi Minh City's roads carry more trucks and container trucks. In particular, the extended railway line may fall into a situation of "skewed revenue", with the road losing market share, and the government adding money to compensate for losses and subsidies", engineer Vu Thang acknowledged.

In addition, Mr. Thang said that the investment project of the Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho railway going around the west of the city will miss the connection with the very large Ho Chi Minh City seaport area along the Saigon River, Nha Be - Hiep Phuoc, Soai Rap. This is a densely populated area with a very high demand for passenger and cargo transportation. Not to mention, the route going around the Northwest is an area without a large urban area, far from the center, lacking passenger roads; the final section from Ben Luc to An Binh is also an area without a large urban area. Small neighborhoods and train stations are too close to each other, while trains on the national railway have to brake as soon as they accelerate, so they cannot reach high speeds, cannot stop at many small stations like market trains, so they cannot pick up individual passengers along the way. The effect of the national railway with individual stations in this direction is very limited.

With the above analysis, engineer Vu Thang proposed the shortest connection of these two "super" projects along the Eastern Belt of Ho Chi Minh City into a vertical axis along the North-South spine to Can Tho. Specifically, the Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho railway section will be straightened to the east, starting from the Central Station of Ho Chi Minh City in the Thu Thiem - Long Truong - Cat Lai hub area, continuing through Nha Be - Hiep Phuoc - Ben Luc, continuing to Can Tho. Starting from Thu Thiem - Cat Lai will reduce the cost of building the An Binh starting station. According to calculations, the investment capital to move the railway from the western belt to the east with the same length scale, without needing to add more, is still within the estimated scope of about 10 billion USD for the Can Tho - Ho Chi Minh City railway. Even if it is built according to the same scale of capacity and high speed as the North-South railway, with the same appraisal level, calculation method and total unit price, the investment rate may be even cheaper.

Connecting into a unified route, passengers from Hanoi and the north to Ho Chi Minh City can sit still in one seat, sleep still in one bed, and only continue for 1 hour before getting off at Can Tho. A sealed freight car from the north can be pulled straight to Can Tho, without the need to unload or transfer. The trip to the north is just as convenient.

Road and bridge expert Vu Thang

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/duong-sat-cao-toc-bac-nam-truoc-thoi-khac-lich-su-lam-the-nao-chay-thang-ve-can-tho-185240930224240849.htm