Prime Minister: Determined to build the railway industry

The first meeting of the Steering Committee for key projects and national important projects in the railway sector - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Three Resolutions to Implement Railway Projects

Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, Conclusion No. 49-KL/TW of the Politburo, and strategies and plans for transport development have affirmed that railways are one of the areas requiring priority investment.

In the recent past, the National Assembly has issued 3 Resolutions to implement railway projects, including: Resolution on investment policy for the North-South high-speed railway project (Resolution No. 172/2024/QH15); Resolution on investment policy for the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway project (Resolution No. 187/2025/QH15); Resolution on piloting a number of specific and special mechanisms and policies to develop the urban railway network system in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (Resolution No. 188/2025/QH15).

New railway infrastructure construction projects and works have a very large scale and total investment, requiring high technical requirements, especially the high-speed railway being deployed for the first time in Vietnam.

The Prime Minister issued Decision No. 609/QD-TTg dated March 15, 2025 establishing the Steering Committee for important national railway projects and works and Decision No. 24/QD-BCĐĐSQG dated March 17, 2025 promulgating the regulations on organization and operation of the Steering Committee.

The list of works and projects includes: (i) High-speed railway project on the North-South axis; (ii) Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong, Hanoi - Lang Son, Mong Cai - Ha Long (Quang Ninh) railway lines and (iii) urban railway projects in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Of which, the North-South high-speed railway project has a total length of 1,541 km from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, with a design speed of 350 km/h. The preliminary total investment is 1,713,548 billion VND (about 67.34 billion USD). Implementation period is from 2025-2035.

Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway, 1,435 mm gauge, passenger and cargo transport; total main line length is about 390.9 km, branch line 27.9 km; total investment 8.369 billion USD; phase 1 invests in single track, site clearance is carried out on double track scale. Implementation period from 2025-2030.

The Hanoi - Lang Son railway connects the capital Hanoi with the provinces of Bac Ninh, Bac Giang and Lang Son, and connects international transport with China; total length is about 156 km.

The Hai Phong - Ha Long - Mong Cai railway connects Hai Phong city with Quang Ninh province; connects international transport with China; the total length of the route is about 187 km.

According to Resolution No. 188/2025/QH15 dated February 19, 2025 of the National Assembly, Hanoi plans to build 15 urban railway lines; Ho Chi Minh City plans to build 10 urban railway lines.

Formation of large corporations in the railway industry

In his concluding remarks, the Prime Minister stated that to achieve the set goals, we must have the mindset to overcome our own limitations, break free from the beaten path, promote the spirit of self-reliance, self-reliance, and national pride. The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of investing in railway projects and developing the railway industry.

"We are determined to build the railway industry, master the technology, produce carriages and locomotives, and develop the railway industrial ecosystem. Respecting time, intelligence and making timely decisions are the decisive factors for success. This is also an opportunity for our country and our people to have more motivation and inspiration to rise up and develop," the Prime Minister emphasized.

Prime Minister: Determined to build the railway industry - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Directing solutions, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Education and Training to develop a project to train human resources, both domestically and abroad, with specific plans, programs and training targets for each level and major, to form and develop railway faculties at universities; especially to train chief engineers.

Along with that, forming and establishing large corporations, including private corporations, related to the railway industry, if exceeding authority, must report to competent authorities to decide and amend related regulations.

Mobilize and diversify resources, including state capital, loans, issuance of project bonds, public-private partnerships, TOD exploitation, etc., while closely managing to avoid loss and waste.

The Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Construction develop appropriate technical standards; apply modern technology and transfer advanced techniques.

Regarding the problems that need to be resolved, the necessary mechanisms and policies will be assigned to the Ministry of Construction to preside over and review with other agencies and report to the National Assembly at the upcoming session. The Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Justice will develop and issue legal documents to guide the specific and special mechanisms and policies that have been approved by the National Assembly. If any mechanisms and policies are still lacking, they will be submitted to the National Assembly for general application to projects.

The Ministry of Construction urgently collects comments from ministries and agencies to complete and submit to the Government for promulgation the Government's Resolutions implementing Resolution No. 172/2024/QH15 and Resolution No. 187/2025/QH15 of the National Assembly. The Ministry of Construction presides over and coordinates with Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to develop and submit to the Government a draft Resolution to implement Resolution No. 188/2025/QH15.

Assigning a number of tasks, the Prime Minister requested a unified understanding of the importance of railway projects; strengthening inter-sectoral coordination, enhancing responsibility; tasks and work must ensure 6 "clarities"; "clear people, clear work, clear progress, clear results, clear responsibilities, clear authority" as a basis for monitoring and reviewing; focusing on removing difficulties, speeding up the progress of projects, especially in site clearance in the direction of separating into separate projects, when there is a route direction, assigning localities to clear the site, calling for investment in stations, first of all the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong project.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will develop a Decree regulating the temporary use and return of forests to carry out temporary construction works serving the project, to be completed in September 2025.

The Ministry of Construction shall develop a Decree stipulating criteria for selecting state-owned organizations and enterprises to be assigned tasks or Vietnamese organizations and enterprises to be ordered to provide railway industrial services and goods. At the same time, develop a Decision of the Prime Minister stipulating the list of railway industrial services and goods to be assigned to state-owned organizations and enterprises or ordered to Vietnamese organizations and enterprises; develop a Decree guiding the implementation of allowing investors to simultaneously prepare, appraise, and approve Feasibility Study Reports, construction designs after basic designs, bidding documents, and request documents.

Regarding railway industry development projects, the Prime Minister noted the need to study and refer to international lessons and experiences.

Localities urgently develop detailed plans, proactively allocate local budgets to carry out compensation, support and resettlement work; and deploy the construction of resettlement areas for the Project based on the preliminary design documents in the Pre-Feasibility Study Report approved by the National Assembly.

Regarding specific projects, for the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway project, the Ministry of Finance urgently submitted to the Prime Minister the establishment of a State Appraisal Council. The Prime Minister agreed to start the bidding package for the construction of the new Lao Cai station infrastructure and start the resettlement areas of the Project in 2025. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance, based on the pre-feasibility study report of the Project, worked with the Chinese side to negotiate the Agreement. At the same time, promote the Hanoi - Lang Son and Hai Phong - Ha Long - Mong Cai railway projects.

Regarding the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis, the Prime Minister requested to try to start construction in December 2026. The Ministry of Justice has given its opinion on applying the simplified procedures in construction, issuing the Decree on the overall design in early April 2025; at the same time, ministries and branches promptly gave their opinions after the Ministry of Construction asked for opinions on the draft Decree.

The Prime Minister requested the People's Committees of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to review the implementation of urban railway projects in their localities. The Ministry of Finance will soon give its opinion on stopping the use of ODA capital and foreign preferential loans for the project and adjusting the capital source for the Ho Chi Minh City urban railway project, Line 2, Ben Thanh - Tham Luong section.

Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/thu-tuong-quyet-tam-xay-dung-bang-duoc-nganh-cong-nghiep-duong-sat-162032.html