Kinhtedothi - According to Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang, the North-South high-speed railway is expected to contribute to the development of a sustainable, modern, and friendly mode of transport, reducing traffic accidents and environmental pollution.
On the morning of November 13, at the 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly, authorized by the Prime Minister, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang presented a Proposal on the investment policy for the high-speed railway project on the North-South axis.
Creating momentum for the development of railway industry and supporting industries
According to the report, in 2010, the idea of building a North-South high-speed railway was proposed but the National Assembly did not approve it due to concerns about the speed, exploitation plan, and investment resources in the context of the low economic scale at that time (GDP was 147 billion USD) and high public debt (56.6% of GDP).
However, the demand for transportation is increasing, the size of the economy in 2023 will reach 430 billion USD, nearly 3 times higher than in 2010; public debt is low - about 37% of GDP. Therefore, according to the Government, if the project is expected to be implemented in 2027, the size of the economy is estimated to reach 564 billion USD, investment resources at this time are no longer a major obstacle.
The North-South high-speed railway proposed to the National Assembly this time is expected to start from Ngoc Hoi station (Hanoi) and end at Thu Thiem station (Ho Chi Minh City), passing through 20 provinces and cities.
The project has a route length of about 1,541km, building a new double-track railway line, 1,435mm gauge, with a design speed of 350km/h. According to the plan submitted by the Government, the high-speed railway will transport passengers, meet dual-use requirements for national defense and security, and can transport goods when necessary.
According to the preliminary design, the route of the North-South high-speed railway is studied and selected to be “as short as possible”. The project is limited to passing through environmentally sensitive areas, historical sites, scenic spots, and defense land; reducing the volume of land clearance, avoiding densely populated areas.
Along the highway, the Government plans to arrange 23 passenger stations, each station location planning development space from 200 to 500 hectares. 5 cargo stations each have a scale of about 24.5 hectares.
Regarding the site clearance and resettlement plan, the total land use requirement of the project is approximately 10,827 hectares; the resettled population is approximately 120,836 people. This project is implemented in the form of public investment with a total preliminary investment of over 1.7 million billion VND (approximately 67.34 billion USD).
It is expected that the State budget will be allocated in the medium-term public investment plan to complete the project by 2035, with capital allocated for about 12 years (from 2025 to 2037), averaging about 5.6 billion USD per year - equivalent to about 1.3% of GDP in 2023 and about 1% of GDP in 2027 (when the project starts). The implementation process will mobilize diverse legal capital sources for investment.
Regarding progress, the Government calculates to complete the preparation and approval of the feasibility study and design report in 2025-2026; start the project in 2027; strive to basically complete the entire route in 2035. The North-South high-speed railway project will contribute to strengthening the connection of growth poles, opening up new economic development space; and increasing the competitiveness of the economy.
If approved, the project will create an important premise for Vietnam to become a developed, high-income country; creating momentum for the development of the railway industry and supporting industries. In addition, the North-South high-speed railway is expected to contribute to the development of a sustainable, modern, and friendly mode of transport, reducing traffic accidents and environmental pollution.
Clarifying the basis for calculating forecasts on transportation demand
Presenting the Appraisal Report, Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh said that the Economic Committee agreed on the necessity of investing in the Project based on the political and legal bases and reasons stated in the Submission. The Project meets the criteria of important national projects under the authority of the National Assembly to decide on investment policies and basically meets the requirements for documents as prescribed by the Law on Public Investment.
In terms of scope, investment scale and preliminary design, the Project is basically consistent with the Railway Network Planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, so the Economic Committee basically agrees with the Government's proposal.
According to the appraisal report, the total preliminary investment of the project is 1,713,548 billion VND (over 10,000 billion VND). The project needs to change the purpose of using 242.9 hectares of special-use forest (over 50 hectares), 652.6 hectares of protective forest (over 500 hectares), and 1,671.3 hectares of production forest (over 1,000 hectares). The project needs to change the purpose of using 3,102 hectares (over 500 hectares) of wet rice land for 2 or more crops.
The Economic Committee recommends that in the feasibility study phase, the Government directs relevant agencies to carefully review and select the optimal option to connect the high-speed railway line with the national railway network, urban railway, other transport systems; regional and international railway networks and the benefits of simultaneously upgrading existing railways to transport goods and tourists.
According to the review report, there are suggestions to clarify the comparison options with the route proposed by the Government, and at the same time carefully explain the route according to the principle of "straightest possible", especially the section passing through Nam Dinh province, to ensure the effectiveness of the Project.
Approving the investment of the Project in the form of public investment, the Economic Committee however requested to clarify the basis for calculating the forecast of the Project's transportation demand, when in fact, in the past, the forecast of transportation demand of many BOT transport projects had a large difference compared to reality, leading to ineffectiveness in the financial plan and requiring adjustment of the Project contract.
Also this morning, the National Assembly discussed at the investment policy group the North-South high-speed railway project.
Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/trinh-quoc-hoi-chu-truong-dau-tu-du-an-duong-sat-toc-do-cao-truc-bac-nam-di-qua-20-tinh-thanh-pho.html
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