Amending regulations on railway connection with airports and seaports

In the Draft Law on Railways (amended) which is seeking public opinion, the Ministry of Transport proposes to add regulations on railway connections.

Airports with a capacity of over 30 million passengers/year and class 1 seaports must be connected by railway.

According to the proposal in the Draft, international airports with a capacity of 30 million passengers/year or more, seaports of type I or higher, dry ports, inland waterway ports with a capacity of 50,000 TEU/year or more in provinces/cities with national railways and local railways passing through must be connected to railways to meet the needs of transportation, socio-economic development, national defense, security, and environmental protection.

According to the draft Law on Railways (amended), seaports of type I or higher and dry ports and inland waterway ports with a capacity of 50,000 TEU/year or more must have railway connections (Photo: illustration).

The representative of the Vietnam Railway Authority said that the addition of this regulation aims to specify the documents of the Party and the Government on collecting and clearing passengers and goods at airports, seaports, inland ports and waterway ports; at the same time, it is consistent with the planning of the airport, seaport and inland waterway port system and the Railway Network Planning for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050; Green Project COP26, COP27. On the other hand, reports of the European Seaports Organization (ESPO) and the European Commission, the Federation of Inland Ports (EFIP) have shown that: The efficiency of special seaports and seaports with high transport demand depends on the ability to optimize the connection of waterways, roads and railways across the entire transport network. The efficiency of railway operations and connections to and from ports is essential to maximize the use of railways as a sustainable mode of transport. Connecting railways with the dry port system aims to optimize the transport of import and export goods of each region and economic corridors; connecting dry ports with seaports; contributing to the completion of the transport network, promoting multimodal transport, reducing costs of transport and logistics services. At the same time, this amendment to the Law will add regulations that roads leading to stations are transport infrastructure assets, shared by both enterprises and people, and are funded by the State or organizations, individuals, and enterprises to build, renovate, upgrade and maintain. The goal is to unify the management of roads leading to stations, serving the socio-economic development of the locality, people and means of transport to conveniently access the railway station; mobilizing local resources to invest in developing infrastructure for railway transport. Station classification, capacity building for international transport activities In the draft revised Railway Law, railway stations are classified according to the nature of transport connections, while the current 2017 Railway Law only classifies them according to function (passenger station, freight station, technical station, mixed station). Accordingly, additional classification regulations are added: International transit stations are stations that carry out customs clearance procedures for wagons, goods, and passengers transported internationally by rail. Border stations are stations that perform the functions of international transit stations and have the function of carrying out procedures for communication between locomotives and wagons with railways of neighboring countries. Domestic stations are stations that carry out domestic freight, passenger, and technical operations.

Kep Station is temporarily allowed to operate international freight transport by rail.

Explaining the addition of this regulation, a representative of the Vietnam Railway Authority said that in fact, since 2020, there has been a backlog of goods carrying out import and export procedures at Dong Dang border gate (border station). Therefore, it is necessary to have international transit stations to reduce some customs procedures for border stations, facilitate customs clearance of goods, and reduce transportation costs for businesses. In 2023, the Ministry of Transport allowed Kep station (Bac Giang province) to temporarily operate international transit operations to carry out some procedures related to import and export goods. However, due to the lack of a detailed and clear legal corridor, the process of converting Kep station into an international transit station takes a lot of time and procedures, leading to a failure to promote advantages and reduce the competitiveness of railway transport. The draft Law also adds a provision: Special urban areas and type I urban areas with national railways passing through must arrange passenger stations in the urban center or in a location convenient for access and connection to other modes of transport. According to the Vietnam Railways Authority, it is necessary to regulate the location of passenger stations of national railways as a basis for orienting urban space development. Practical experience from developed countries shows that the number of passengers carried by national railways is very large, bringing all of these passengers to the urban center will greatly reduce the load on travel, creating favorable conditions for connecting railway traffic with other modes of transport. "According to international experience, national railway passenger stations are located in the central area of ​​the city, so passengers can go directly from the center to the suburbs without having to change trains and there is no phenomenon of accumulation and congestion of a large number of passengers at the transfer stations between urban railways and national railways. This is a very effective solution to solve the current urban traffic problem," said a representative of the Vietnam Railway Authority.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/sua-quy-dinh-ket-noi-duong-sat-voi-san-bay-cang-bien-192241002222001303.htm