Nghe An will build a new railway station

(Baonghean.vn) - On the morning of December 8, the Provincial People's Committee worked with a working group from the Vietnam Railway Authority on the need to connect the railway from Quan Hanh station to Nam Cam industrial park and run a pair of express passenger trains from Hanoi to Vinh during the day.

Comrades: Huynh Thanh Dien - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Vu Quang Khoi - Director of the Railway Department chaired the meeting. Attending were representatives of departments and branches: Transport, Management Board of Southeast Economic Zone, Office of the Provincial People's Committee, representatives of a number of enterprises.

Comrade Huynh Thanh Dien - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee introduced infrastructure and transportation needs in the province.

The Hanoi – Vinh railway line is currently 319 km long, including 37 stations and has short lines and branch lines connecting to the national railway to serve the transport of goods for factories. The capacity of the line is 21.5 pairs of trains/day and night.

Currently, Hanoi Haraco Railway Transport Joint Stock Company regularly operates 1 pair of trains between Vinh - Hanoi (train pair NA1/2) and currently has 6 pairs of Thong Nhat trains running daily through the Hanoi - Vinh section. Train running time is from 5:25 to 7:00. During the peak summer season, additional trains NA3/4 and NA12/13 are run.

Comrade Vu Quang Khoi - Director of the Railway Department highly appreciated the province's coordination and suggested reviewing the infrastructure to ensure safety when opening a new route.

According to the assessment, the flow of passengers during holidays and Tet is very crowded but there is still a one-way phenomenon. For example, before Tet, passengers go from the South, but after Tet, they concentrate on going from the North. The railway industry has not been able to meet all the travel demand concentrated on some days before Tet.

Regarding freight transport, there are many major freight hubs on the Hanoi - Vinh section, but in 2015, the flow of goods from the hubs via railway only reached 2.1 million tons, while the demand for transporting input and output products of factories is very high.

Therefore, according to the proposal of Vietnam Railway Authority and Hanoi Railway Joint Stock Company, a pair of express trains on the Vinh - Hanoi route will be put into operation and Quan Hanh station will be expanded to connect the railway branch to Nam Cam Industrial Park, and transport passengers from Vinh Station to Cua Lo by bus.

Plan to build a new station and a dedicated branch line connecting to the national railway at Quan Hanh station (on railway line 5); loading and unloading goods by rail directly at the industrial park.

At the meeting, delegates discussed the reasons why passenger and cargo transportation has not met expectations. Many opinions said that passenger train travel time is slower than road travel, some key cargo points do not have connecting branch lines, so short-distance transportation costs arise, increasing prices...

The meeting also discussed solutions to improve transport capacity and increase competitiveness with other types of transport.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Huynh Thanh Dien suggested that the railway industry study to reduce costs and increase competitiveness with other types of transport.

Concluding the meeting, comrade Huynh Thanh Dien acknowledged the proposals of the Vietnam Railway Authority, but also noted that railway operators when building new stations and specialized branch lines connecting to the national railway must ensure that goods are loaded and unloaded directly and effectively, avoiding transit, at reasonable prices, creating the most favorable conditions for businesses... Regarding passenger transport, it is necessary to study to shorten the time to meet the very high travel needs of people, including tourists.

The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also suggested that the railway sector should conduct a practical survey, suitable for roads, seaways, and aviation in the area to invest in order to exploit the full potential and advantages in freight and passenger transport. Nghe An province will direct the Department of Transport, railway enterprises in the area, and local authorities to review plans for effective cooperation.

Thu Huyen