Traffic jams often occur on National Highway No.1 section between HCM City and Can Tho. (Photo: sggp.org.vn) Passenger and freight transport in the Mekong Delta currently exists mainly onroads, with only a small portion using waterways and aviation.
The number of newly built roads in the region is relatively low compared toother regions.
The lack of large-volume transport is increasing logistics costs foragricultural and aquatic products, and has negatively affected HCM City, theeconomic hub of the southern region.
Multi-purpose project
According to the Ministry of Transport, despite having the largest river andcanal system in the country, the Mekong Delta has transported goods such asrice, fertiliser and gasoline, among others, "without speed".
Fresh produce such as seafood and fruit are usually transported by refrigeratedvehicles or container trucks to preserve quality.
This explains why road freight now accounts for more than 70 percent of theregion's transport needs and is always overloaded.
Among the modes of transport, road freight usually has the highest cost becauseof the large volume of transport, resulting in high logistics cost forVietnamese goods compared to average costs in other parts of the world.
Currently, Vietnam’s logistics costs account for about 20 percent of GDP, whilethe world’s average is about 11 percent of GDP.
Transport costs account for the highest, with nearly 60 percent of the totallogistics costs.
Developing large-volume transport in the Mekong Delta will help reducelogistics costs and increase Vietnamese goods’ competitiveness. The HCM City - CanTho high-speed railway project, which has been assigned to the Railway ProjectManagement board for a pre-feasibility study report, is the top candidate for thisplan.
According to many economic experts, investment in the high-speed railway shouldbe a number one priority because when completed it will solve the problem oflogistics costs for agricultural products, one of the country's exportstrengths.
The high-speed railway between HCM City and Can Tho is designed with apassenger speed of 200km/h and 120km/h for cargo transport.
At this speed, people in the Southwest region, especially from the Can Thoarea, can travel to HCM City for work and return home on the same day, reducingthe population in HCM City.
Financial costs
The biggest obstacle is the large investment capital needed, estimated at US10billion, of which the cost of railway construction is 5 billion USD.
The four localities in which the project pass through have noted that thestations importantly cross urban areas of hundreds of hectares. Effectiveexploitation of the land along the station will create a great financial sourcefor construction of the railway line.
According to the design recently approved by the Ministry of Transport, therailway will be almost parallel to the HCM City - Trung Luong - Can ThoExpressway.
The whole route will be 135km long and 1,435mm wide and pass through HCM City,Long An, Tien Giang and Can Tho.
Tan Kien in Binh Chanh district will be the first station, built in HCM City,connecting to a newly built modern urban area and bus rapid transit (BRT) alongVo Van Kiet street, which is currently under construction.
The next station will be located in Ben Luc town in Long An province. From thisstation, there will be road or waterway connections to Long An InternationalPort and Soai Rap International Port in HCM City.
The province will have another station in Tan An, which will help form the newTân An urban area with 300ha of land.
The fourth station will be in Phuoc Lap commune in Tan Phuoc district in TienGiang province, while the last will be located near Cai Cui Seaport in Can Tho.
Many experts have praised the project, saying it will create new urban centresand stations along the route, and will be a great driving force for urbandevelopment in the Mekong Delta./.
VNA
