Simultaneous site clearance for North-South high-speed railway from August 19

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that the site clearance work has been separated from the investment project and assigned to the provinces and cities to carry out. Therefore, local leaders must directly direct the implementation.

The Prime Minister requested relevant agencies to urgently hand over the route to carry out the next steps. At the same time, he emphasized the requirement to organize and complete each part of the work, implementing it according to the principle of completing each part, ensuring science, safety, efficiency, preventing negativity, waste, corruption and group interests.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been assigned to promote an early meeting of the Vietnam-China Intergovernmental Committee to resolve problems with railway projects connecting the two countries. Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son will direct the handling of issues related to ODA capital regulations, moving from pre-audit to post-audit.

The Ministry of Construction will be responsible for completing the system of technical standards and regulations before July 20. The Ministry of Science and Technology will appraise and announce the standards before August 10.

North-South high-speed railway project

The North-South high-speed railway project was approved by the National Assembly in November 2024 with a total preliminary capital of about 1.7 million billion VND (equivalent to 67 billion USD).

The 1,541 km long, 1,435 mm double gauge line, designed speed of 350 km/h, has 23 passenger stations and 5 freight stations, passing through 20 provinces and cities from Ngoc Hoi station (Hanoi) to Thu Thiem station (HCMC). In addition to public investment, the project is allowed by the National Assembly to be implemented in the form of public-private partnership (PPP) or business investment.

Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong Railway Project

Previously, in mid-February 2025, the National Assembly also approved the investment policy for the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway project with a total capital of more than VND 203,000 billion (USD 8.37 billion).

The main line is nearly 391 km long, 1,435 mm gauge, with some branch lines 27.9 km long, passing through 9 provinces and cities. The design speed is from 80 km/h to 160 km/h depending on the section, serving the general transport of both passengers and goods. The project strives to be completed by 2030 at the latest.

The simultaneous start of site clearance since August 19 shows the Government’s strong determination to accelerate the implementation of key railway projects. This is a key step to ensure the construction progress and put modern railway lines into operation as planned.