Railway approved 7,000 billion for 4 urgent projects

This is a capital package in the budget package of 15,000 billion VND of reserve capital under the medium-term public investment plan for the period 2016-2020. Previously, the Government submitted to the National Assembly for approval the allocation of 7,000 billion VND to upgrade the railway infrastructure of the Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City route.

With this budget, Vietnam Railways Corporation proposed 4 detailed projects, including: Project to renovate and upgrade essential works on the Hanoi - Vinh section with a total estimated investment of 1,600 billion VND; Project to renovate and upgrade railway infrastructure on the Nha Trang - Saigon section, with a total estimated investment of 1,800 billion VND; Project to renovate and upgrade weak bridges and reinforce anti-collision pillars, with a total estimated investment of 1,800 billion VND; Project to reinforce weak tunnels combined with opening 3 new stations and renovating the upper-floor architecture on the Vinh - Nha Trang section, with a total estimated investment of 1,800 billion VND.

From the capital of 7,000 billion, the Railway Corporation proposed 4 detailed projects to improve the capacity of the Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City route; at the same time, eliminating about 800 self-opened paths.

With the above projects, the railway plans to upgrade and renovate about 475km of the line; locally renovate the surface with small curve radius: 45 points; Open more railway line No. 3 with 5 existing stations with 2 lines, extend the railway station for 16 stations, open 5 new stations; Renovate and upgrade the load capacity of 111 weak bridges; Renovate, upgrade and replace 11 weak tunnels. In particular, build more than 33km of fences and access roads to eliminate about 800 self-opened paths...

The completed projects will upgrade the entire route to the same load level of 4.2 tons/m; increase the route's throughput capacity from 18 pairs of trains/day and night to 23 - 25 pairs of trains/day and night and can operate at an average speed of 80 - 90km/h for passenger trains and 50 - 60km/h for freight trains.

Discussing the preparation for the implementation of projects when the National Assembly approves capital allocation, Mr. Vu Anh Minh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam Railways Corporation, said that the Corporation has calculated and prepared carefully. After approval, it will select consultants, build projects, design... with new items. For items that have been in previous projects, approved but have not yet been allocated capital, quickly complete procedures according to new regulations for implementation. It is possible to implement items that have been previously planned. In which, the end of this year or early 2019 can be implemented due to weak demand. Around mid-2019, the remaining items can be implemented.

“The biggest challenge now is that we have to carry out the project while it is being constructed and operated. The construction can only be done during the gap between trains and to block off the section for a short period of time. If all goes well, these sub-projects can be basically completed by the end of 2020,” said Mr. Minh.