Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong railway will take on the second largest transport demand in the country.

The Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong railway construction investment project will be the corridor with the second largest demand for passenger and cargo transportation in the country, after the North-South economic corridor.

Priority is given to using domestic materials.

To ensure human resources for operation and exploitation after the project is completed, during the research and preparation of the project's pre-feasibility study report, the consultant proposed a human resource training program according to 3 types of training (domestic training, foreign training, combined domestic and foreign training) with 4 levels of qualifications (technical workers, engineers, masters, doctors) for 5 entities (state management agencies, project management units, operating and exploitation units, training facilities, research facilities).

On the other hand, the feasibility study report has planned to train and develop human resources for the project of about 2,431 people with the project's budget.

In the next step, the Railway Project Management Board will continue to research and determine the specific number of human resources, costs, plans, and training methods to meet the staffing needs for operation and exploitation.

In addition, Mr. Tung also emphasized: In the process of selecting international contractors, the bidding documents and request documents will have regulations for contractors to prioritize the use of products, goods and services that can be produced and provided domestically; there will be conditions for the contractor to commit to transferring technology and training human resources for Vietnamese partners to master the management, operation, exploitation and maintenance work, and gradually master the technology.

Agreed with localities where railway lines pass through

Evaluating the project with a separate site clearance part and some localities will use provincial and municipal budgets for implementation, the Railway Project Management Board believes that decentralization, authority and responsibility assignment to localities will create initiative for localities in the preparation process and can soon implement site clearance and resettlement work in parallel with the project approval process; ensure legal basis, remove difficulties for localities to implement compensation, support and resettlement work; speed up site clearance progress for the project.

Regarding the issue in the process of building the route, the location of stations, industrial parks, and goods to ensure synchronization and promote the efficiency of network exploitation, according to Mr. Tung, during the implementation of the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong railway project, the Ministry of Construction has directed the Railway Project Management Board and consultants to agree on the route, the location of stations with the localities where the project passes through and the localities have agreed in writing; investigate and update the planning of industrial parks and logistics centers to ensure synchronization and efficiency of network exploitation.

During the preparation of the project pre-feasibility study report, the consultant studied the regulations and proposed policies related to planning. In Resolution 187/QH15/2025, the National Assembly has a policy that in case the preparation, appraisal and approval of a project has contents different from the relevant planning, the project will be approved without having to carry out planning adjustment procedures. After the project is approved, the relevant planning must be promptly reviewed, adjusted, updated and announced.

Regarding the transport corridor along the route, the Railway Project Management Board said: According to the national spatial development orientation, the country is oriented towards 13 economic corridors, of which the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong economic corridor is the corridor with the second largest demand for passenger and cargo transport in the country, after the North-South economic corridor.

Therefore, the construction of the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong railway is first of all to serve the domestic passenger and cargo transportation needs on the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong economic corridor, along with serving the needs of passenger transportation, import-export goods and transit goods, thereby maximizing the investment efficiency of the project.

Based on the forecast of transportation demand, the entire route is expected to have 18 stations (3 train stations, 15 mixed stations). In addition, to carry out technical operations to serve train operations, it is expected to have 13 technical operation stations.

During the exploitation process, when the transportation demand increases, some technical stations will be researched and upgraded into mixed stations and additional stations will be invested in when needed. Thus, the location and scale of the station and the route of the project have been fully calculated based on the demand and future forecast of freight transport.

Furthermore, the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong railway line is newly built with the goal of connecting with Hai Phong international seaport, connecting with China to implement the "Belt and Road" initiative and the Connectivity Cooperation Plan within the framework of "Two Corridors, One Belt", meeting the demand for high-quality, fast, convenient and safe transportation, reducing emissions.

Currently, the Railway Project Management Board is preparing a feasibility study report for the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong Railway Construction Investment Project. It is expected that the project's feasibility study report will be approved in the third quarter of 2025; the technical design will be completed, a contractor selected for a construction package will be selected, and the project will start construction at the end of 2025.

The proposed investment project for the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong railway line has a total length of more than 403km, passing through 9 provinces and cities, including: Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc, Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Hung Yen, Hai Duong and Hai Phong.

The starting point is at the rail connection point across the border between the new Lao Cai Station and Hekou Bac Station (China), in Lao Cai city. The ending point is at Lach Huyen wharf area, in Hai Phong city.

Preliminary calculations show that the project has a total investment of about 194,929 billion VND (equivalent to more than 8 billion USD).

Phan Trang