Many road toll stations will be removed.
The Road Maintenance Fund will officially begin operations on January 1, 2013, and the transport sector is planning to eliminate many road toll stations.
Illustrative image.
Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong recently chaired a meeting to specifically review the list of all toll stations and propose a list of toll stations to be abolished.
According to the published list, the Ministry of Transport will propose to abolish the following toll stations as of January 1, 2013: 7 stations subject to state budget revenue collection: Cau Luong station (Km93+190 National Highway 1), Ba Che station (National Highway 18), Go Dau station (Km41 National Highway 22A), Trung Ha bridge station (Km63 National Highway 32), Binh bridge station (Km17 National Highway 37), Lo Te station (Km65 National Highway 80), and No. 14 station (National Highway 14). Also on this occasion, a proposal will be made to abolish the Madrak station (Km62 National Highway 26) – a station that was scheduled to complete debt repayment by the end of July 2012 according to Document No. 3170/KTN.
Thus, regarding toll stations that contribute to the state budget, 7 out of 12 stations are almost certain to be abolished by January 1, 2013. The Cam Thinh toll station (National Highway 1) is one of the 12 toll stations that contribute to the state budget, but it is planned to be handed over to the BOT investor for the expansion project of the National Highway 1 bypass section between Phan Rang and Thap Cham cities in August 2012. The remaining 4 toll stations that contribute to the state budget are expected to be handed over to the BOT investor: Cau Gianh station (National Highway 1), Dong Ha station (National Highway 1), Phu Bai station (National Highway 1), and My Thuan station (National Highway 1). For these 4 stations, the Ministry of Transport will propose to the Ministry of Finance to temporarily suspend toll collection on January 1, 2013.
Of the five toll stations designated for loan repayment under Document No. 3170/KTN (including: Bac Hai Van (National Highway 1), Buon Ho (National Highway 14), Nhon Tan, Kdang (National Highway 19), and Madrak (National Highway 26), the Madrak station on National Highway 26, which repaid its loan in July 2012, will be immediately removed. For the remaining four stations, the outstanding project debt is approximately 200 billion VND. The Ministry of Transport has proposed two solutions. Option 1 is to remove them after loan repayment (no later than the end of 2015). Option 2 is to remove them immediately on January 1, 2013, and request budget allocation to repay the remaining 200 billion VND.
With 5 toll stations currently being sold for toll collection rights – Nam Cau Gie on National Highway 1, Hoang Mai on National Highway 1, Bai Chay on National Highway 18, Ban Thach on National Highway 1, and Station No. 2 on National Highway 1 – it is expected that toll collection will cease and the stations will be dismantled upon the expiration of the toll collection rights contracts, or they will be handed over to BOT investors for the National Highway 1 expansion project (expected in 2015).
Currently, there are 57 toll stations on the national highway and expressway system. According to the classification of the Vietnam Road Administration, at this time, 12 stations contribute to the state budget, 5 stations repay loans according to Document 3170/KTN dated June 25, 1997 of the Prime Minister, 5 stations are selling toll collection rights, 29 stations collect tolls to recover BOT project capital, 4 stations collect to support BOT project capital, 1 station collects to form charter capital for CIPM Cuu Long, and 1 station collects to recover expressway capital.
According to PhapluatVN-M
