Vietnam laying tracks to complete 1,541-km high-speed railway route in 2035

Vietnam will strive to complete the 1,514-kilometer North-South high-speed railway in 2035, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said at a government meeting on Thursday.

The meeting was held to discuss drafting of the project document for the transnational railway link.

Chinh noted that the 2035 milestone was a full decade earlier than the 2045 target set by the Politburo, the Communist Party of Vietnam's premier decision-making body, in its March 2023 conclusion on the national railway transport development plan.

He asked the drafting team to consider having trains on the high-speed route run at 350 kilometers per hour, faster than the 320 kilometers per hour figure mentioned in the Politburo conclusion.

Drafting of the project, led by the Ministry of Transport, should be completed this year and submitted for approval, Chinh said.

He emphasized that the project was already facilitated by political determination (the Politburo’s document), legislative basis (National Assembly Resolution 103/2023/QH15), and actual demand (high demand for logistics services in the country).

He noted that for North-South transportation, the express railway project should focus on suitable passenger carrying capacity, express cargo delivery, and defense-security purposes. The country already has three transnational highways and a network of seaports and airports, he stressed.

Chinh asked the drafting team to check carefully the economic feasibility of the project including its payback period and socioeconomic impacts.

The express railway project should utilize smart, modern and digitalized management, ensuring suitable technology transfers and workforce development, he added.

According to a pre-feasibility report submitted in February 2019, the North-South High-speed Railway will pass through 20 provinces and cities: Hanoi, Ha Nam, Nam Dinh, and Ninh Binh (in the north); Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue, Danang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan (in the central region); and Dong Nai and Ho Chi Minh City (in the south). The route would start at the Ngoc Hoi Station in Hanoi and end at the Thu Thiem Station in HCMC.

In November 2023, the Ministry of Transport started collecting feedback from government agencies on three scenarios proposed for the project.

These presented the options of: having different designed speeds ranging from 200 to 350 km/h; making the route serve either passenger or cargo transportation exclusively or combining both; and considering cost estimates of $67.3-72 billion. Vietnam's 2023 GDP was about $430 billion, according to the General Statistics Office.