North-South high-speed railway may start construction in late 2026

This timeline is one year earlier than the original plan. The Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Construction to submit to the Government in April a supplementary bidding mechanism for the project in time for submission to the National Assembly Standing Committee and the National Assembly in May. At the same time, the Ministry of Construction needs to study and submit to competent authorities mechanisms and policies to accelerate the project's implementation progress.

The Ministry of Justice is also assigned to promptly provide comments for the Ministry of Construction to issue a decree on the overall design in a shortened order in April.

The North-South high-speed railway project was approved by the National Assembly in November 2024 with a total preliminary capital of about 1.7 million billion VND (equivalent to 67 billion USD). The 1,541 km long route, starting from Ngoc Hoi station ( Hanoi ) and ending at Thu Thiem station (Ho Chi Minh City), passes through 20 provinces and cities. The project is newly invested with a double gauge of 1,435 mm, a design speed of 350 km/h, a load capacity of 22.5 tons/axle, including 23 passenger stations and 5 freight stations, meeting the needs of passenger transport and being able to transport goods when necessary, while serving national defense and security purposes.

For the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Lang Son railway, the Ministry of Finance was assigned to submit to the Prime Minister the establishment of a State Appraisal Council in April 2025, in order to meet the target of starting the project in December this year. The Prime Minister also agreed with the proposal of the Ministry of Construction to start the bidding package for the construction of the new Lao Cai station infrastructure and resettlement areas of the project in 2025.

Regarding the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong route, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance will negotiate with the Chinese side on the Framework Agreement on related contents in May 2025. The loan agreement is expected to be signed in November, immediately after the feasibility study report is approved. Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc has directed these two ministries to draft and send a letter from the Deputy Prime Minister requesting the Deputy Premier of the State Council of China to support preferential loans for the project.

The Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Construction to prepare documents to soon deploy the Hanoi - Lang Son and Hai Phong - Ha Long - Mong Cai routes. Regarding urban railways, the two major cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are required to review the implementation plans of the routes and clearly identify capital mobilization plans for each project. The Ministry of Finance will report to the Prime Minister for approval of route No. 3, Hanoi Station - Yen So (Hoang Mai) section, at the request of the Hanoi People's Committee. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance will also soon give its opinion on stopping the use of ODA capital and foreign preferential loans for the Ho Chi Minh City urban railway project, Ben Thanh - Tham Luong section, and propose adjusting the capital source for this project.

TH (according to VnExpress)

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/duong-sat-toc-do-cao-bac-nam-co-the-khoi-cong-vao-cuoi-nam-2026-408792.html