Major changes are expected for Vietnam’s railways if plans to doubletransport capacity by 2020 are to be reached. Report by VietnamInvestment Review.
There were reportedly tworeasons the Ministry of Transport (MoT) forwarded Statement 13.669 onrevisions to the railway development strategy to 2020 with a visiontoward 2050 to the Prime Minister.
Firstly, currentrailway transport capacity lags far behind the target set in the railwaydevelopment strategy, approved in a decision passed in November 2008(Strategy 1686).
Accordingly, railway transportmakes up only 0.5 percent of the total passenger transport market shareand 1 percent of the freight transport market share.
“The railway sector could hardly achieve the target of 13 percentpassenger transport market share and 14 percent freight transport marketshare by 2020 under current infrastructure,” said Vietnam RailwayCorporation’s former deputy general director Vuong Dinh Khanh.
Second, most projects to upgrade and/or overhaul existing railways have lagged behind set progress targets.
According to the revisionary statement the new strategy upholds mostof the points made in Strategy 1686, only revising targets to meetpractical conditions.
For instance, by 2020 therailway sector will satisfy 1-2 percent of passenger transport demand,1-3 percent of freight transport demand, and for urban areas in Hanoiand Ho Chi Minh City, 10-15 percent of passenger transport demand.
With respect to the north-south railway network plan from now to 2020,as well as modernising the existing system the ministry has proposedbuilding a 1,435mm gauge dual track line that can run at speeds of up to200km per hour.
Completing the north-south railwaynetwork and scaling up train velocity to 350km per hour is slated forcompletion by 2050. By that time, old railway lines will be used mainlyfor freight.
Toward the successful completion of the1,435 gauge railway, consultants have suggested prioritising a 36.750trillion VND (1.75 billion USD) 50km test line between Ngoc Hoi and PhuLy by 2020, and thereafter to 2030 building two new lines, the 234kmsection from Phu Ly to Vinh city and the 366km section from Ho Chi MinhCity to Nha Trang city for a total investment of 406.413 trillion VND(19.3 billion USD).
Ministry statistics show thatsince Strategy 1686 went into force, a mere 8.070 trillion VND (384million USD) was injected into improving railway infrastructure, lessthan 1 percent of the total planned.
With respect tourban railway development in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, thoughStrategy 1686 set a roadmap for building eight lines in the former andseven in the latter, the railway sector has been largely slow in puttingthese plans into realising these plans.
Hanoi’spriority urban railway line N°1 project, funded by Japanese ODA as of2008, has yet to see the developer even finish the first-phase ofdetailed planning.
Of Hanoi’s four urban railwayswhich are currently under construction, only the Cat Linh-Ha Dong linehas the chance of completing its planned finish in mid-2015.
Head of the Vietnam Railway Administration Nguyen Huu Thang said poorperformance is due to impediments to investment proposals and landacquisition, as well as capital shortage.-VNA
There were reportedly tworeasons the Ministry of Transport (MoT) forwarded Statement 13.669 onrevisions to the railway development strategy to 2020 with a visiontoward 2050 to the Prime Minister.
Firstly, currentrailway transport capacity lags far behind the target set in the railwaydevelopment strategy, approved in a decision passed in November 2008(Strategy 1686).
Accordingly, railway transportmakes up only 0.5 percent of the total passenger transport market shareand 1 percent of the freight transport market share.
“The railway sector could hardly achieve the target of 13 percentpassenger transport market share and 14 percent freight transport marketshare by 2020 under current infrastructure,” said Vietnam RailwayCorporation’s former deputy general director Vuong Dinh Khanh.
Second, most projects to upgrade and/or overhaul existing railways have lagged behind set progress targets.
According to the revisionary statement the new strategy upholds mostof the points made in Strategy 1686, only revising targets to meetpractical conditions.
For instance, by 2020 therailway sector will satisfy 1-2 percent of passenger transport demand,1-3 percent of freight transport demand, and for urban areas in Hanoiand Ho Chi Minh City, 10-15 percent of passenger transport demand.
With respect to the north-south railway network plan from now to 2020,as well as modernising the existing system the ministry has proposedbuilding a 1,435mm gauge dual track line that can run at speeds of up to200km per hour.
Completing the north-south railwaynetwork and scaling up train velocity to 350km per hour is slated forcompletion by 2050. By that time, old railway lines will be used mainlyfor freight.
Toward the successful completion of the1,435 gauge railway, consultants have suggested prioritising a 36.750trillion VND (1.75 billion USD) 50km test line between Ngoc Hoi and PhuLy by 2020, and thereafter to 2030 building two new lines, the 234kmsection from Phu Ly to Vinh city and the 366km section from Ho Chi MinhCity to Nha Trang city for a total investment of 406.413 trillion VND(19.3 billion USD).
Ministry statistics show thatsince Strategy 1686 went into force, a mere 8.070 trillion VND (384million USD) was injected into improving railway infrastructure, lessthan 1 percent of the total planned.
With respect tourban railway development in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, thoughStrategy 1686 set a roadmap for building eight lines in the former andseven in the latter, the railway sector has been largely slow in puttingthese plans into realising these plans.
Hanoi’spriority urban railway line N°1 project, funded by Japanese ODA as of2008, has yet to see the developer even finish the first-phase ofdetailed planning.
Of Hanoi’s four urban railwayswhich are currently under construction, only the Cat Linh-Ha Dong linehas the chance of completing its planned finish in mid-2015.
Head of the Vietnam Railway Administration Nguyen Huu Thang said poorperformance is due to impediments to investment proposals and landacquisition, as well as capital shortage.-VNA
