The railway sector needs to train more than 6,500 employees overseas in order to enable them to operate the North-South express railway, part of which is expected to be put into use in 2020.

According to the Vietnam-Japan Consulting Joint Venture (VJC), the work will start in 2015 and end in late 2019 with 1,300 people to be trained each year.

Dr. Nguyen Huu Bang, General Director of the Vietnam Railway Corporation (VRC), said the North-South express railway is one of the largest and most important infrastructure projects in Vietnam . It is part of the country’s railway transport development strategy through 2020 with a vision to 2050 recently approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

To create a qualified staff for the operation of the railway, since 2009, VRC has sent over 100 officers and engineers to study express railway technologies in Japan, he said, adding that to date, the first 10 trainees have completed their courses.

The North-South express railway, invested by the VRC, will be 1,570 km in length with 27 stations and accommodate trains achieving a speed of 300 km per hour.

Once it is put into operation, it will take five and a half hours to travel from the capital city of Hanoi to the southern economic hub, Ho Chi Minh City./.