The world has technology 4, Vietnam railway is still technology 1

Discussing the revised Railway Law at the National Assembly on the morning of November 18, delegate Nguyen Phi Thuong - General Director of Hanoi Transport Corporation said that Vietnam's railway system is backward and weak.

National Assembly discusses draft revised Railway Law

After more than 130 years of development, Vietnam's railway is still only at technology 1, with a single track gauge of 1m, while the world is at technology 4 and preparing for technology 5.

Furthermore, Vietnam’s railways are not connected to transport hubs. The actual market share of railway transport is only about 1%, while that of road transport is 65%, leading to road traffic being “monopolized” and overloaded, causing congestion.

Regarding the causes, delegate Thuong said that there were subsidy factors, confusion about development policies and investment concerns. The direction of railway development was also unclear, so investment was also stagnant.

Delegate Nguyen Phi Thuong said that the 2005 Railway Law must be amended, which raises concerns about the role of railways, because Vietnam's logistics costs are only 20% of GDP while the world's is over 50%.

“Our country stretches from North to South, so it is necessary to develop railways, which is also to develop the country. We need to pay attention and allocate capital in the 80,000 billion VND package as well as land fund for railway development. We must separate infrastructure business from transportation business,” Mr. Thuong emphasized.

Delegates Nguyen Phuong Tuan (Ninh Binh), Ton Ngoc Hanh (Binh Phuoc), Nguyen Thi Hong Ha (Ninh Thuan)... all said that it was time to amend the 2005 railway law.

However, with this draft revised Law, delegates said it is still too sketchy and poorly applicable.

Delegate Le Minh Chuan (Quang Ninh) - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam National Coal - Mineral Industries Group also wondered, "Vietnam Railways has many issues to discuss."

According to delegate Chuan, there should be regulations on dedicated railways. Because the potential of railways and waterways is under-exploited, the burden is placed entirely on road transport. Besides, dedicated railways are very effective in transporting goods.

Sharing the same view with delegate Chuan, delegate Nguyen Van The (Soc Trang) also said: “Dedicated railways are superior. If these railways are formed to transport goods from ports to industrial zones, it will be extremely good and effective, shortening the journey and reducing road traffic congestion. If we do not regulate it, it is not allowed.”

According to TTO