Amendment of railway infrastructure management and exploitation policy
Báo Giao thông•26/09/2024
The Ministry of Transport is seeking comments on the draft Law on Railways (amended), which proposes policy amendments to effectively manage and exploit railway infrastructure assets.
Classifying infrastructure assets by category In an interview with Giao thong Newspaper, a representative of the Vietnam Railway Authority said that in the draft revised Railway Law, the Ministry of Transport specifically stipulates the responsibility for managing railway infrastructure assets invested by the State. Accordingly, the Government performs the function of representing the owner, unifying the management of assets according to the provisions of law on management and use of public assets. The Ministry of Transport performs the duties and powers of the owner representative for national railway infrastructure assets.
The Ministry of Transport proposed amending policies to effectively manage and exploit railway infrastructure assets (Photo: illustration).
Provincial People's Committees shall perform the duties and powers of the representative owner of local railway infrastructure assets invested by them; Agencies and organizations assigned to manage, lease or transfer assets for a limited period of time shall be responsible for managing, using, exploiting, maintaining and protecting the assets in accordance with the provisions of law. The draft also adds the provision "The Government shall prescribe the management, use, exploitation and list of railway infrastructure assets invested by the State". A representative of the Vietnam Railway Authority said that the amendment and supplementation of this policy aims to overcome shortcomings and difficulties in the implementation of the current 2017 Railway Law; facilitate the effective management and exploitation of infrastructure assets. The 2017 Railway Law classifies national railway infrastructure assets invested by the State as including railway infrastructure assets directly related to train operations and infrastructure assets not directly related to train operations. But in reality, such classification is difficult to implement because many assets cannot be classified into groups directly or indirectly related to train operations such as: warehouses, roads in stations, etc. On the other hand, according to Decree No. 46/2018 regulating the list of national railway infrastructure assets and the results of statistics on national railway infrastructure assets invested by the State, it shows that: The entire railway line, bridges, culverts, tunnels, embankments, retaining walls, level crossings; fences separating national railways and roads; access roads to stations located on land reserved for railways; water supply and drainage systems; signal information systems; electricity systems, etc. are railway infrastructure assets directly related to train operations. 96% of the total number of architectural assets are railway infrastructure assets directly related to train operations. Assets not directly related to train operations account for only 4% of the total number of architectural assets. Therefore, the classification of assets as stipulated in the 2017 Railway Law does not have much meaning in practical activities. Separating assets invested by the State and enterprises According to the representative of the Vietnam Railway Authority, the current efficiency of asset exploitation is still low, not commensurate with the scale of the asset block. The exploitation mechanism is not linked to the market, because the current regulation on the use of railway infrastructure fee is 8% of the transport revenue for all trains. In addition, in reality, there is no document providing detailed guidance on which railway infrastructure assets when used for railway transport are subject to the calculation of railway infrastructure usage fees, and which assets are subject to the calculation of rental prices. Therefore, with assets used for both transport business and for lease, railway businesses will have to pay both the usage fee and the rental price of railway infrastructure, reducing the competitiveness of railway transport businesses.
The mechanism for exploiting railway infrastructure assets is not currently linked to the market (Photo: illustration).
Faced with this reality, the Ministry of Transport proposed a revised policy to separate state-invested railway infrastructure assets from assets of enterprises investing in railway land and the mechanism for asset management and maintenance according to the provisions of law on management and use of public assets. Railway infrastructure assets used for railway transport business purposes must pay railway infrastructure usage fees; assets used for other purposes must pay asset usage fees according to the guidance of the Ministry of Finance. Based on specific conditions, the Prime Minister assigns the subject of railway infrastructure asset management; clearly stipulates the subject of national railway infrastructure asset management in the direction: For newly invested and constructed railway lines, the State will manage them; for existing railways, the Vietnam Railway Corporation will manage, use and exploit them; amend the classification of railway infrastructure assets to suit reality. "Along with the general provisions in the amended Law, in the next decrees, circulars, and documents guiding the implementation of the Law, we will study and adjust specific regulations on the assignment, lease, and transfer of railway infrastructure assets for effective management and exploitation," said a representative of the Vietnam Railway Authority.
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