Amending the Railway Law, creating institutional breakthroughs to develop infrastructure

Urgent need to amend the Law, creating institutional breakthroughs

The Ministry of Transport said that after more than 5 years of implementation, the 2017 Railway Law has been effective, gradually meeting the development requirements of the railway sector, clarifying the responsibilities and powers of each entity participating in the railway sector.

However, besides the achieved results, during the implementation process, the 2017 Railway Law has also revealed shortcomings and inadequacies.

The draft revised Railway Law supplements many new regulations to create institutional breakthroughs for railway development (Photo: illustration).

In particular, regarding investment in developing railway infrastructure, the 2017 Railway Law does not have regulations on investment in building regional railway infrastructure, regional railways connecting with national railways, and local railways to serve the needs of transporting passengers and goods within the administrative boundaries of a province or centrally-run city to develop the socio-economy of the locality or economic region.

The law also does not have regulations on investment in the construction of technical infrastructure works used in conjunction with railways to effectively exploit railway infrastructure.

International experience shows that, to optimally exploit the areas in the station, in addition to the construction items for train operations, it is also allowed to operate restaurants, hotels, offices, shopping centers..., bringing great economic efficiency.

Effectively exploiting the space around stations to develop urban areas, commercial services, etc. is a trend that many countries in the world are applying. This not only opens up new space for economic development but also creates resources from exploiting land funds, optimizing travel needs. Revenue from exploiting and developing land funds around stations is partly prioritized for reinvestment in developing railway infrastructure.

Therefore, amending and supplementing the Law is an urgent and necessary requirement to meet practical requirements, and at the same time to institutionalize the viewpoints, guidelines and policies of the Party and State, creating institutional breakthroughs for railway development.

Maximizing investment resources in railway infrastructure

The draft Law on Railways (amended) is being consulted by the Ministry of Transport and consists of 8 chapters and 80 articles. Compared to the 2017 Law on Railways, the draft has 2 fewer chapters and 7 articles. In particular, the chapter on high-speed railways and the chapter on urban railways are not separated as in the 2017 Law on Railways.

According to the Ministry of Transport, the regulations in these two chapters of the 2017 Railway Law are only general principles, not specific, and some regulations are not suitable for exploitation and operation practices.

The Draft Railway Law adds regulations to maximize resources for investment and construction of railway infrastructure and works (Photo: illustration).

On the other hand, urban railways and high-speed railways are only railway technical levels and need to be managed in a unified manner like other railway technical levels, from planning to investment in construction, management, exploitation, maintenance, protection of infrastructure, railway staff, signals, traffic rules, ensuring railway safety and order, and railway business.

Therefore, in the draft Law on Railways (amended), the Ministry of Transport restructured the regulations on urban railways and high-speed railways in a direction that does not include separate chapters but is regulated together with other types of railways.

Regarding investment and construction of railway infrastructure, in the draft Law on Railways (amended), the Ministry of Transport has drafted amendments and supplements to regulations on: Responsibilities of entities in investing in the construction of national railways, local railways, specialized railways, regional railways and technical infrastructure works connecting to railway works, national railway works shared with local railways, railways shared with roads.

The draft also adds provisions to shorten the implementation progress of railway construction investment projects such as: being allowed to establish a general technical design (Front - End Engineering Design, called FEED design) instead of the basic design in the feasibility study report to shorten the project implementation time for high-speed railway projects, urban railway projects applying high technology, new technology under the authority of the National Assembly to decide on investment policies.

At the same time, supplement regulations on exploiting land funds in the vicinity of railway stations to maximize resources for developing railway infrastructure and the responsibilities of entities in implementation.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/sua-luat-duong-sat-tao-dot-pha-the-che-de-phat-trien-ha-tang-192240825150314527.htm