It is necessary to separate state management activities from railway business activities.

(Baonghean.vn) - That is the opinion of delegate Tran Van Mao - Deputy Head of the National Assembly delegation of Nghe An province at the discussion session in the hall (3rd session, 14th National Assembly) on the draft revised Railway Law taking place on the morning of May 30.

According to delegate Tran Van Mao, the responsibility for managing and maintaining railway infrastructure in Article 21 of the Law should be assigned to the Vietnam Railway Corporation to ensure proactiveness, consistent with the autonomy mechanism of public enterprises. At the same time, separate the state management activities of the Ministry of Transport and the provincial People's Committees from the activities of railway business enterprises. Avoid policy disruption, creating a state management apparatus as well as affecting state enterprises in the implementation of maintenance and protection of railway infrastructure.

Regarding the train schedule, delegate Tran Van Mao said that the provisions in the draft law are overlapping, contradictory and inconsistent. For example, Clause 4, Article 43 stipulates that railway infrastructure construction enterprises must publish train schedules on the railway lines they manage, while Clause 3, Article 4 on basic principles of railway operations stipulates: Centralized unified management of railway transport activities.

Delegate Tran Van Mao - Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An Province spoke at the discussion session in the hall on the morning of May 30. Photo: Thanh Loan

In addition, at point D, clause 2, article 51, which stipulates the rights and obligations of railway infrastructure business enterprises, it clearly states: organizing and operating railway transport according to the national railway system, urban railways when assigned by the state... "To avoid railway traffic accidents and additional administrative procedures, it is proposed that the draft law clearly stipulate the construction and management of train schedules for a national railway infrastructure business enterprise to implement uniformly, reducing administrative procedures", delegate Tran Van Mao expressed.

Regarding prohibited acts in railway operations, delegate Tran Van Mao proposed to add a provision on "Illegal stopping and parking of road vehicles on railways, within the railway safety limits, illegal stopping, parking, and anchoring of waterway vehicles within the protection area of ​​railway bridges...". Because "in reality, many other means of transport have parked close to the railway, violating the train safety corridor, some ships and boats anchored close to the railway bridge abutments are very susceptible to collisions causing the bridge to collapse similar to the collapse of Ghenh Bridge in 2016", this delegate explained.

In addition, delegate Tran Van Mao also suggested that it is necessary to supplement and amend related regulations to clarify the responsibilities of groups and individuals, especially train captains, assistant drivers and staff in the event of a railway accident.

Regarding the railway transport support policy, Clause 4, Article 73 of the draft revised Railway Law stipulates the responsibility of the Provincial People's Committee: "Issuing or submitting to competent authorities for promulgation policies to support urban railway transport prices". Delegate Tran Van Mao suggested that the draft Law should stipulate more clearly and specifically such as in which cases the Provincial People's Committee should issue and in which cases it should be submitted to competent authorities for promulgation?

On the other hand, Clause H, Point 8, Article 30 of the State Budget Law (effective from 2017) stipulates that the Provincial People's Council has the duty and authority to decide on budget expenditure regimes for a number of specific expenditure tasks in the locality. In addition to the standards and budget expenditure norms issued by the Government and the Ministry of Finance to carry out socio-economic development tasks in the locality in accordance with the local budget balance capacity.

Delegate Tran Van Mao said: Based on the above regulations, the decision to spend the budget for a number of specific spending tasks in localities falls under the authority of the provincial People's Council. Therefore, it is recommended that the drafting committee study and revise it to ensure consistency in the legal system./.

PV-CTV Group