Planning of Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong - Quang Ninh railway: About 5 thousand households resettled

According to the consulting consortium of Transport Investment and Construction Consulting Joint Stock Company (TRICC) - Transport Engineering Design Consulting Corporation (TEDI), the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway is increasingly demonstrating its key role in national transport planning. Along with the North - South axis of Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City, this is one of the two backbone railway lines in the North.

Railway development must follow general planning.

The East-West national railway currently has two main routes connecting to the capital, Hanoi - Hai Phong and Hanoi - Lao Cai, which always play an important role in serving the travel needs of passengers and transporting goods. With a history of formation and development of more than 100 years, the position and role of the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway has been increasingly affirmed in terms of its importance in the socio -economic development strategy and national security and defense of the country. It can be seen that in the overall national railway network, the Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City railway and the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway are the two most important backbones in the railway transport development strategy in the northern region of Vietnam.

The role of the Lao Cai-Hanoi- Hai Phong railway is increasingly affirmed in the socio-economic development strategy and national defense and security.

According to the Transport Design Consulting Corporation, in the past 10-15 years to 2023, many railway development projects have been studied on the East-West corridor. Some projects have been and are being implemented to promote the effectiveness of railway transport on the route, such as the ADB loan project to upgrade the existing 1000mm gauge line "Yen Vien - Lao Cai", the project "Upgrading and renovating stations on the Northern railway lines", including stations on the Lao Cai - Hai Phong route. Investment projects on the Hai Phong - Dinh Vu railway section, the Hai Phong - Hung Vuong - Dinh Vu - Lach Huyen bypass railway... have been studied, but for various reasons they have not yet been implemented. Regarding the connection of the Lao Cai - Hai Phong railway line with the Chinese railway at the Lao Cai border gate, the Ministry of Transport has studied in the step of preparing the Feasibility Study Report of the project "Railway from Lao Cai station (Vietnam) to Hekou station (China)" but has not yet carried out the next step for various reasons, including the factor of considering the national railway planning between building a 1435mm gauge railway and maintaining the existing railway. Most recently, the project "Planning the 1435mm standard gauge railway line Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong" has been carried out quite elaborately by a company with remarkable contents and results. However, along with the adjustment of the general planning of the localities along the corridor, there have been many changes, so the coordination and unification of the route direction and station locations... has not reached a unified agreement. Especially in large urban areas such as Hanoi, Hai Phong, etc., there are still many issues that need to be clarified in choosing the location of main stations and connecting routes to neighboring railways.

The above issues show that a complete study to complete the planning of the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong-Quang Ninh railway line is very necessary according to the general planning for the development of the national railway network.

Total investment is expected to be over 203 trillion VND.

The Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong - Quang Ninh route is located on the East - West economic corridor, playing an important role in connecting and promoting trade between Vietnam and China, developing the border economy, contributing to strengthening the comprehensive cooperation relationship between the two countries. The investment in this railway route is also placed in the context of synchronization with Lach Huyen international gateway port, Hai Phong - Quang Ninh port cluster, inland waterway port system and airport. This is an important factor in the period up to 2030, with a vision to 2050. According to the consultant, along with strong investment in developing Lach Huyen international gateway port with the Hai Phong - Quang Ninh regional port cluster, inland waterway port system and air routes, developing railway transport on the East - West economic corridor Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong - Quang Ninh is extremely necessary for the period up to 2030 and vision to 2050.

The Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong - Quang Ninh railway has a total planned length of 461.5km. The starting point is at Lao Cai border gate, connecting with the Chinese railway; the end point is at Cai Lan station (Ha Long city, Quang Ninh). Of which, the route through Lao Cai province is 65.01km long; through Yen Bai is 76.8km long; through Phu Tho province is 60.05km long; through Vinh Phuc province is 41.75km long; through Hanoi city and Bac Ninh province is 43.76km long, including the main route of 40.54km and the branch route connecting to Yen Vien station is 3.22km long. The route through Hung Yen province is 16.87km long; through Hai Duong province is 40.97km long; through Hai Phong city is 83.97km long. Of which, the main route down to Lach Huyen port is 48.92km long; The branch line to Nam Do Son port is 12.7km long; the branch line to Dinh Vu port is 7.45km long; the coastal railway connecting Quang Ninh province is 14.9km long. The coastal railway line in Quang Ninh province is 35.54km long; of which the newly built line is 24.87km long, the current railway line is 10.67km long.

As planned, the railway will cross many locations such as the Red River, Lo River, Duong River, Thai Binh River... so it requires the use of bridges with larger spans than usual to meet the requirements. Based on the calculation of the span span, in this research step, the consultant proposes to apply box girder cantilever bridges or steel truss bridges for bridges with large navigation clearance.

Regarding capital needs, the total preliminary investment for the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway is more than 203 trillion VND, including the section from Hai Phong to Quang Ninh on the Nam Dinh - Thai Binh - Hai Phong - Quang Ninh coastal route. It is expected that this railway will be divided into 3 investment phases. Of which, the 2021-2025 phase requires 128 billion VND, which has been balanced by the Government in the medium-term public investment plan. The 2026-2030 phase requires more than 177 trillion VND and the 2031-2035 phase requires nearly 26 trillion VND. The Hai Phong - Quang Ninh section alone has an estimated total investment of more than 38.2 trillion VND, which will be implemented after 2030, in sync with the coastal railway in the northern region.

Based on the planning scheme, the consultant has calculated the land use demand and other resources of the railway line "Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong-Quang Ninh" of about 2,671.54 hectares, including agricultural land of about 708.70 hectares, forest land of about 857.41 hectares and other types of land according to the provisions of the law on land of about 1,105.43 hectares. The number of resettled households is about 4,972 households (population of about 19,574 people).

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Giao-thong/quy-hoach-tuyen-duong-sat-lao-cai-ha-noi-hai-phong-quang-ninh-khoang-gan-5-nghin-ho-dan-tai-dinh-cu-i764907/