Overcoming one's own limits, building the railway industry

According to the Steering Committee, Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, Conclusion No. 49-KL/TW of the Politburo, strategies and plans for transport development have affirmed that railways are one of the areas that need priority investment, especially the North-South high-speed railway lines, railways connecting to seaports, industrial parks, large cities and international railways.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired the first meeting of the Steering Committee for important national railway projects.

Recently, the National Assembly issued 3 Resolutions to implement railway projects, including: Resolution on investment policy for the North-South high-speed railway project; Resolution on investment policy for the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway project; 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. 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 implemented for the first time in Vietnam.

The Prime Minister issued Decision No. 609/QD-TTg establishing the Steering Committee for important national railway projects and works and Decision No. 24/QD-BCĐĐSQG promulgating the regulations on organization and operation of the Steering Committee. The list of projects and works includes: High-speed railway project on the North-South axis; Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong, Hanoi - Lang Son, Mong Cai - Ha Long (Quang Ninh) railway lines and urban railway projects in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Of which, the North-South high-speed railway project, approved by the National Assembly in Resolution No. 172/2024/QH15, 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). The implementation period is from 2025 to 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 a 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 international transport links with China; total length is about 156km.

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 187km.

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

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

Pointing out the determination to build the railway industry, master technology, produce carriages and locomotives, and develop the railway industrial ecosystem, the Prime Minister said that this is also an opportunity for our country and our people to have more motivation and inspiration to rise up and develop. Therefore, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Education and Training to develop a project to train human resources, train both domestically and abroad, with specific plans, programs, and training targets for each level and major, form and develop railway faculties at universities; especially training general engineers. Along with that, form and establish large corporations, including private corporations, related to the railway industry. If beyond authority, report to competent authorities for decision and amendment of related regulations.

To have resources to build railway projects, it is necessary to diversify resources, including state capital, loans, issuance of project bonds, public-private partnerships, TOD exploitation..., and at the same time, strictly manage to avoid loss and waste.

The Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Construction to develop a set of appropriate technical standards; apply modern technology, and transfer advanced technology. The Ministry of Construction will preside over and work with relevant agencies to review mechanisms, policies, problems that need to be resolved, and necessary policies, and report to the National Assembly at the upcoming session.

Assigning a number of tasks, the Prime Minister requested a unified understanding of the importance of railway projects; 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, assigning localities to clear the site, calling for investment in stations, first of all the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong project.

Requiring increased inter-sectoral coordination and increased responsibility, the Prime Minister emphasized that determination must be very high, efforts must be great, actions must be drastic, and work must be focused and key, and each task must be completed and each task must be completed. 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 review. Along with that, resolutely and strictly handle cases of delay and lack of responsibility, while promptly praising collectives and individuals who have excellently completed their tasks, and encouraging innovation.

Directing to put people and businesses at the center, projects must aim to serve the people, improve service quality, reduce congestion, protect the environment and develop sustainably, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Justice to develop and promulgate legal documents to guide specific and special mechanisms and policies approved by the National Assembly. If there are any missing mechanisms and policies, they must be submitted to the National Assembly for general application to projects.

The Prime Minister pointed out that the Ministry of Construction urgently received opinions 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; preside over and coordinate with Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to develop and submit to the Government a draft Resolution to implement Resolution No. 188/2025/QH15.

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 assigned tasks or Vietnamese organizations and enterprises ordered to provide railway industrial services and goods; and develop a Decision of the Prime Minister stipulating the list of railway industrial services and goods assigned to state-owned organizations and enterprises or ordered to Vietnamese organizations and enterprises.

The Ministry of Construction has developed a guiding Decree allowing investors to simultaneously prepare, appraise and approve Feasibility Study Reports, construction designs after basic designs, bidding documents and request documents.

Noting the need to study and refer to international lessons learned for railway industry development projects, the Prime Minister requested localities to urgently develop detailed plans, proactively allocate local budget capital to carry out compensation, support and resettlement work; deploy the construction of resettlement areas for the Project on the basis of 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.

Regarding the urban railway projects in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, 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 urban railway project in Ho Chi Minh City, Line 2, Ben Thanh - Tham Luong section.

 

According to VNA

Source: https://baobacgiang.vn/vuot-qua-gioi-han-cua-chinh-minh-xay-dung-bang-duoc-nganh-cong-nghiep-duong-sat-postid415115.bbg