Society

Many rail tunnels need upgrading

The Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR) recently submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Transport to upgrade 22 tunnels on the railway line between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
The Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR) recently submitted a proposal tothe Ministry of Transport to upgrade 22 tunnels on the railway linebetween Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The railway is the main line in Vietnam, and covers 1,726 km.

The tunnels are located in the central provinces of Quang Binh, Thua Thien-Hue, Da Nang, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa.

Doi Sy Hung, deputy general director of the corporation, said that therestoration would improve the safety and effectiveness of the railwaysystem.

Railways only account for 2.19 percent of the transport market share, and 1.2 percent of the logistics sector.

The project aims to increase the average train speed to between 80kmphand 90kmph for passenger trains and between 50kmph and 60kmph for goodstrains.

The restoration includes the upgrade of the drainage system along the tunnels.

The 3 trillion VND (136 million USD) project will be funded by the State budget and Government bonds.

If approved, the project will take more than five years to complete.

Previously in February, the VRC also proposed its plan to develop itsrailway transport system towards 2020, which was approved by the PrimeMinister.

The strategy also includes a plan to build anew high-speed north-south railway with priority given to busy routessuch as Hanoi-HCM City, Hanoi-Vinh and HCM City-NhaTrang./.
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