Vietnam plans to build a North-South high-speed railway in 2026-2027

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on the afternoon of June 25 worked with Mr. Lou Qiliang, Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of China Railway Signal Information Corporation (CRSC) in Dalian city (Liaoning province, China).

CRSC belongs to the State Capital Administration Commission of China (SASAC), the world’s largest supplier of railway transport control systems, and is China’s competent authority on technical standards and product standards. products of railway transport control systems.

Sharing at the meeting, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Thang said that according to the plan, Vietnam is developing a North-South high-speed railway system of more than 1,500 km long, expected to be deployed before 2030, specifically possibly in the period 2026-2027. To deploy, he said, Vietnam wants to cooperate with China in the fields of railways, rolling stock and signaling.

“These are three components that play a decisive role in the safety of railway lines, including high-speed and urban railways,” Minister Thang said, adding that China has good technology in railway development, good prices reasonable, so this is a good opportunity for the two sides to cooperate through support mechanisms such as ODA loans and export credit.

Vietnam aims to have 3,000 km of highways by 2025 and increase to 5,000 km by 2030. Railway infrastructure, especially the North-South high-speed railway investment project, will be invested to complete the transport network. multimodal transport, improving national competitiveness. At the end of November 2023, the Ministry of Transport asked for opinions on three North-South railway scenarios, including two scenarios for trains with a speed of 350 km/h for private passengers and reserve cargo.

At the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh commented that China is a country with strengths in developing high-speed railways and urban railways. He hopes this country will support design, construction, and technology transfer, including developing railway projects from Yunnan through Lao Cai to Hai Phong, Lang Son to Hanoi and Dong Hung to Mong. Yes, back to Hai Phong. These three railway lines have a length of over 700 km, playing an important role in promoting trade between the two countries.

CRSC is currently China’s largest enterprise in the field of railway signaling. Particularly in the subway sector, the group holds a market share of 45%. It is also the world’s largest supplier of railway transport control systems, building a complete industrial chain from design and R&D to equipment manufacturing and technical services of railway transport control systems. .

Mr. Lau Te Luong, Chairman and General Director of CRSC, said that this group wants to have the opportunity to cooperate with Vietnam. Because, this group has strengths from design to production of railway control signal systems, including software and equipment digitization – creating a closed chain of production and supply to help prices compete, safety, quality.

He also said that human resources play a very important role in developing railway projects. This business can cooperate with Vietnam in the fields of research, development (R&D) and railway signaling, because these are important factors in railway system development.

Agreeing with this opinion, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that training human resources for railway projects in Vietnam is facing difficulties. Therefore, Vietnam wants to cooperate with China on human resource training, command, control, and design in railway projects.

“Human resources must be one step ahead, then transfer technology. If product and logistics costs remain high, it will be difficult to compete in the market. Therefore, we want the group to participate,” the Prime Minister said, At the same time, we asked the group’s leaders to come to Vietnam to discuss specifically with ministries and branches to promote projects.

According to Minister Nguyen Van Thang, the Government of Vietnam and China are directing the implementation of 3 railway projects connecting the two countries. It is expected that by mid-2025, the two sides will do the first project, Lao Cai – Hanoi – Hai Phong. Room.

The Minister of Transport also suggested cooperation in standard gauge railway projects connecting seaports to economic zones, industrial parks, airports and border gates. According to him, these are projects with high economic efficiency, so in addition to projects funded by the State, Vietnam also calls on businesses like CRSC to participate in investment through public-private partnerships (PPP).

CRSC Group operates in more than 20 countries and regions, including the Jakarta-Bandung HSR project in Indonesia, the Hungary-Serbia Railway and the China-Laos Railway.

Hoai Thu