Expanding planning for 5 more urban railway lines
Speaking with Giao thong Newspaper reporters, Mr. Nguyen Cao Minh - Head of Hanoi Urban Railway Management Board said that the Board has just submitted to the City a master plan for investment in the construction of the capital's urban railway system.
The notable point of the Project is the addition of 5 new routes and the adjustment of the route of 3 previously planned routes. The Project also clearly states the specific stages for each priority project.
Urban railways will help people travel more conveniently and quickly. Illustration photo.
The Capital Transport Planning approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 519 in 2016 determined that Hanoi will build 10 urban railway lines as the backbone of the public passenger transport network (PTP).
However, after many years of implementation, the above Planning has shown shortcomings that need to be adjusted to suit the present and future orientation.
"The 5 new urban railway lines are all expected to be invested in the period after 2035 - 2045. At this time, Hanoi can use the budget and capital recovered from the TOD model for investment. It is expected that it will only have to borrow less than 10% of the investment capital for all 5 new lines" - Mr. Nguyen Cao Minh said and added: The total investment for the urban railway lines in the period after 2035 - 2045 is expected to be over 18.6 billion USD.
It is known that the 5 proposed additional urban railway routes include: Route 1A Ngoc Hoi - 2nd airport in the South; route: Ngoc Hoi - Ngoc Hoi road - Phu Xuyen - 2nd airport.
Route No. 9 Me Linh - Co Loa - Duong Xa; route: Me Linh - Co Loa - Yen Vien - Duong Xa.
Line No. 10 Cat Linh - Lang Ha - Le Van Luong - Yen Nghia; route: Cat Linh - Lang Ha - Le Van Luong - To Huu - Nguyen Thanh Binh - Yen Nghia.
Route 11 Ring Road 2 - Southern Axis - 2nd Southern Airport; route: Ring Road 2 - Hanoi Road - Xuan Mai - Southern Axis - 2nd Airport.
Route 12 Xuan Mai - Phu Xuyen; route: Xuan Mai - National Highway 21 - North-South axis road - Do Xa road - Quan Son - Phu Xuyen.
Regarding this proposal, the leader of the Hanoi Department of Transport said that for the urban railway system, expanding the planning and adding some new routes is very necessary. Because the urbanization speed of Hanoi is very fast, the demand for public transport, especially urban railway, of the people is many times higher than when the old planning was made.
In addition, the city has determined to build an urban cluster following the TOD orientation (taking urban railways as the central core). Therefore, expanding the urban railway planning is also very important to the development orientation according to the TOD model of the capital.
TOD orientation helps realize the dream of building urban railway in the capital
Master Vu Hoang Chung also said that Hanoi has calculated the investment in modern transport infrastructure system with Ring Road 4, Ring Road 5, second airport and urban railway to form the basis for developing urban chain from the North to the Southwest.
The districts of Me Linh, Dong Anh, Gia Lam, Phu Xuyen, Thuong Tin, Ung Hoa, My Duc, Chuong My, Quoc Oai extending to Son Tay are areas with a lot of potential in terms of land, favorable for urban chains built according to the TOD model. This will be the most densely populated area, attracting the strongest investment in Hanoi in the next 20 - 30 years.
When there is a high-speed railway and a second airport, the demand for traffic, freight and passenger transport within Hanoi and within the Capital Region, inter-regional transport, etc. will increase. Hanoi's population can reach 12 - 15 million people, accompanied by the risk of rapid increase in personal vehicles. With 5 urban railway lines expected to be formed in 10 years, Hanoi will soon prevent traffic congestion and environmental pollution in the urban areas of the North, South and Southwest.
Not only effectively serving the urban chain on the corridors of Ring Roads 4 and 5 - Capital Region, the above 5 urban railway lines are also the basis for expanding population density, reducing traffic and social infrastructure burden for the city center. Many provinces and cities in the Capital Region are also calculating and adjusting their planning to have urban railways connecting directly with these 5 lines.
For example, Hoa Binh has proposed to build an urban railway connecting with line 10. The Hanoi urban railway system has shown its influence beyond the city's own space, becoming the nucleus of the entire Capital Region.
Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy - Traffic expert believes that developing public transport, especially urban development in the direction of TOD, will fundamentally contribute to solving the difficulties.
In particular, when the urban railway network is completed, it will be directly connected with buses and other public transport modes. The urban railway system will not only make people's travel easier, reduce traffic congestion and environmental pollution, but also contribute to promoting economic and social development of areas and cities along the route.
However, according to Ms. Thuy, despite many advantages, TOD development in Vietnam in general and in the two cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in particular still faces certain barriers. For example, the slow implementation and capital increase of urban railway projects in recent times have signaled many related problems in terms of both resources and investment capital. In particular, the above story also highlights the lack of connection with urban space restructuring; lack of connection with the transportation system itself; difficulties in accessing stations...
On the other hand, many experts also believe that Hanoi's urban railway has fallen behind the urbanization process, many routes are no longer qualified to develop according to the TOD model, especially the area from Ring Road 3 onwards. Therefore, the city needs to prioritize applying the TOD model to urban railway routes located outside Ring Road 3, intersecting with Ring Roads 4 and 5. This orientation is completely correct, but also poses many challenges for Hanoi in the next 20 years.
The biggest challenge is preparing capital for urban railway projects. Hanoi expects to mobilize over 90% of the total of more than 18.6 billion USD invested in urban railways in the final phase of the Master Plan for Investment in the Construction of the Capital Urban Railway System, of which 4.7 billion USD will be collected from the TOD model. Like urban railways, TOD-oriented urban areas are still very new to Hanoi, requiring specific and special policies to put them into practice.
Although the National Assembly has passed the Capital Law (amended), removing many obstacles in the mechanism, the city will certainly have to face many other unprecedented problems during the implementation process. How to successfully apply the TOD model, thereby earning billions of USD for reinvestment in urban railways is indeed a big challenge.
Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/ha-noi-de-xuat-them-5-tuyen-duong-sat-do-thi-192241008171000502.htm
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