After 2026, there will be a major breakthrough in railway investment, with a North-South high-speed line
The Government has just approved the railway network master plan for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050. In the next 10 years, the capital demand will reach VND 240,000 billion. However, capital for railways still has to wait after 2026, including the North-South high-speed line, in the immediate future, priority investment capital for expressways.
According to the railway planning approved by the Government, by 2030, 7 existing railway lines will be renovated and 9 new lines will be invested.
The planned new routes include: North-South high-speed railway (before the Hanoi - Vinh section with 281km long and Nha Trang - Ho Chi Minh City with 370km long); Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan; The East Ring of Hanoi (Ngoc Hoi - Lac Dao - Bac Hong); Hanoi - Hai Phong; Vung Ang - Tan Ap - Mu Gia; Bien Hoa - Vung Tau; HCMC - Can Tho; HCMC - Loc Ninh; Thu Thiem - Long Thanh.
The total capital demand by 2030 for both upgrading the old railway and investing in a new line is about VND 240,000 billion.
However, according to the Ministry of Transport, the medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-2026 period has been approved, the budget capital is expected to be allocated to railways at just over 15,900 billion VND, accounting for about 4.7% of the total investment capital announced the arrangement for the transport sector (total capital for traffic in this period is over 336,475 billion VND).
In which, the new investment railway project is just over 3,600 billion VND, the capital for investment preparation is 584 billion VND, the remaining capital is the transitional projects from the previous phase.
In 2021, the investment capital for railway infrastructure development arranged through the Ministry of Transport is VND 4,121/42,996 billion (accounting for about 9.6% of the total capital for traffic). Of which, more than half (2,821 billion VND spent on annual maintenance).
This shows that, in the next 5 years, the capital for the railway is very limited, focusing on upgrading the existing railway, without investing in any new sections. According to the Ministry of Transport, the medium-term public investment capital in the coming period will mainly be for roads to complete the North-South expressway. After 2026, only priority will be given to capital for railways, in which the construction of the North-South high-speed railway may start from 2027, in line with the time required to carry out the investment preparation procedures for this project.
With the North-South high-speed railway project, the Ministry of Transport has submitted a pre-feasibility report to the Government. The Prime Minister has set up a State Appraisal Council to appraise this report.
It is known that the Ministry of Planning and Investment (the standing agency of the State Appraisal Council) has just signed a contract with an independent foreign consulting unit to conduct the verification of the pre-feasibility study report, serving the appraisal work decision of the Council. When approved by the Council, the Government will bring this project to the National Assembly for opinion. If the National Assembly approves, the next steps to start the project will also take several years.
In the latest draft report to the National Assembly on investment in railway infrastructure, the Ministry of Transport also proposed the National Assembly to prioritize investment resources for the North-South high-speed railway project. In which, it is possible to use the remaining public debt ceiling space to have an appropriate form of borrowing, ensuring that it does not affect the budget allocation to localities and regions. At the same time, the ministry also recommends mobilizing resources from localities with projects passing through to participate in project investment.
Previously, in the 2016-2020 period, the investment capital for railways from the central budget was only VND 18,657/227,841 billion (accounting for about 8% of the total capital for traffic); total railway maintenance capital is more than 13,267 billion VND.
In addition, in the past 5 years, only VND 1,989 billion has been raised for vehicle investment by the Vietnam Railways Corporation. While mobilizing capital from society for railways only reached more than 43 billion dong in 5 years.
According to Cafebiz.