Not only the North-South high-speed railway, there is another high-speed railway project with capital of more than 200,000 billion VND.

The Ministry of Construction said it is coordinating with relevant agencies to prepare a pre-feasibility study report for the Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho high-speed railway project, an important connecting route with an estimated total investment of about 9 billion USD (more than 200,000 billion VND), designed to operate synchronously with the North - South high-speed railway.

In a document responding to the petition of Can Tho voters, the Ministry of Construction said it is implementing the work of preparing a pre-feasibility study report for the Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho high-speed railway project.

This is the route connecting the center of the Southern key economic region with the Mekong Delta region, having great significance in terms of transportation, economy and regional development.

Previously, voters of Can Tho city have repeatedly proposed early investment in a railway expressway to serve the needs of travel, transporting goods, and promoting socio-economic development in the Mekong Delta region.

In response, the Ministry of Construction affirmed its high agreement with this proposal, and said that the investment in the Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho railway line is included in the railway network planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050.

This route is also expected to contribute to improving regional connectivity, increasing competitiveness and reducing logistics costs for the entire Mekong Delta region - considered the country's largest rice, fruit and seafood granary, but lacking modern transport infrastructure.

Scale and exploitation goals synchronized with the North-South route

The Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho high-speed railway project is designed with a length of more than 174 km, track gauge of 1,435 mm, starting from An Binh station (Ho Chi Minh City) and ending at Can Tho station, passing through 6 localities including: Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Tay Ninh, Dong Thap, Vinh Long and Can Tho.

The entire route is expected to have 15 stations and 11 technical stations including maintenance, repair and vehicle inspection stations with a total investment estimated at about 9 billion USD (for both construction phases).

According to the Ministry of Construction, this route is consistent with the current planning of the provinces along the route and the investment will be calculated to ensure synchronous exploitation with the North-South high-speed railway. The North-South route has been approved by the National Assembly in Resolution No. 172/2024/QH15, with the starting point at Ngoc Hoi station (Hanoi) and the ending point at Thu Thiem station (Ho Chi Minh City), with a length of 1,541 km.

Thus, if the Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho route is invested on schedule, it can become an important branch to help complete the national high-speed railway network, effectively connecting regions, reducing the load on roads and airways.

The project is still in the pre-feasibility study stage and needs to go through many next steps such as investment policy approval, investor selection, site clearance, financial preparation, and technical design.

The biggest problem is still capital, when the total investment is up to billions of USD. Capital mobilization under the public-private partnership (PPP) model needs a clear risk allocation mechanism, ensuring feasibility for investors, while not putting great pressure on the budget.

In addition, the investment process requires close coordination between ministries, branches and localities along the route to avoid unsynchronized planning, affecting implementation progress.

In particular, the project needs to be placed in the overall context of the development of the Mekong Delta region, linked with policies on agriculture, trade, export and environmental protection.