2023-11-08 11:07:22
Chairman of Vietnam Union of Associations Phan Xuan Dung
Speaking at the opening of the conference, Chairman Vietnam Union of Associations Phan Xuan Dung said: Industry Vietnam railway It has now been more than 140 years. There was a period when Vietnam’s railway ranked first in Southeast Asia and played a very important role in the country’s socio-economic development, defense and security.
Currently, the railway industry is lagging behind other transport sectors. Investment in the railway industry over the decades has only accounted for about 3% of total investment from the Central budget for transport infrastructure. The market share of rail transport is only 1.02% in passenger transport and 0.94% in freight transport. Shows a serious imbalance in investment as well as market share between modes of transport. This imbalance has negatively affected a number of socio-economic aspects.
From 2010 up to now, the Ministry of Transport has continued to conduct more in-depth and comprehensive research to propose solutions to the National Assembly’s concerns, conducting careful, thorough and comprehensive research and evaluation. about complexity in technical standards and technology; difficulties in mobilizing investment capital; the impact of the country’s socio-economic development project and many other issues. In the current new context, the task of investing in building a high-speed railway system on the North – South axis continues to be set to create new momentum for economic development and modernization of the railway industry. The Politburo has issued Conclusion No. 49-KL/TW on the development orientation of Vietnam’s railway transport to 2030, with a vision to 2045, thereby determining: “Rail transport plays a role in mainstream on the North – South economic corridor” and set a target of completing the investment policy approval of the North – South high speed railway project by 2025; Commence construction of priority sections in the period 2026 – 2030; and complete the entire North-South high-speed railway before 2045.
Carrying out assigned tasks, the Party Committee of the Ministry of Transport has developed a draft project of high-speed railway investment policy on the North – South axis and submitted it to the Politburo for consideration and decision. Carry out the Prime Minister’s functions of consulting, criticism and social assessment; Based on the request of the Ministry of Transport, today the Vietnam Union of Associations organized a workshop to get opinions from experts, scientists, managers, to provide more scientific and practical basis, Advise the Party on the draft Project – Chairman of Vietnam Union of Associations Phan Xuan Dung said.
The workshop was chaired by Chairman of Vietnam Union of Associations Phan Xuan Dung and Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Danh Huy
Speaking at the conference, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Danh Huy thanked the scientists of the Vietnam Union of Associations for their contributions of effort and intelligence to the transportation industry over the past time.
In 2010, the policy of investing in building a high-speed railway system on the North-South axis was submitted to the National Assembly for consideration, but has not been approved due to many concerns about speed, exploitation plan, Investment resources in the context of economic scale in 2010 were still modest. It must be said that this is a difficult and unprecedented project. Over the past 10 years, there have been 28 meetings and workshops to contribute ideas to the Project. However, today’s Project also has many more appropriate adjustments compared to the 2019 Project, but there are still many different opinions such as technology, infrastructure, function, speed, contractor selection… because So, today the Ministry of Transport is eager to listen to the scientists of the Vietnam Union of Associations, where the country’s largest scientific elite converges, contributing to gradually optimizing the Project before the Ministry of Transport. transport and submit it to the Government and National Assembly for consideration and decision.
Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Danh Huy
Three scenarios of the Draft
Project Mr. Doan Van Thang – representative of the Ministry of Transportation Consulting and Design Corporation (TEDI) presented at the conference a summary of the content of the Draft High-speed Railway Investment Policy Project on the North – South axis (Project).
Currently, the Draft Project is being solicited for consultation with 3 specific scenarios:
+ Scenario 1: Construction of a new double-track North-South railway, rail gauge 1,435mm, length 1,545km, design speed 350km/h, axle load 17 tons/axle, exclusively exploiting passenger trains; Upgrade and renovate the existing North-South railway to transport goods, tourists and short-distance passengers. Total expected investment for this scenario is about 67.32 billion USD.
Scenario 2: Construction of a new North-South railway, double track, rail gauge 1,435mm, load capacity of 22.5 tons/axle, joint operation of both passenger and freight trains; Design speed is about 200 – 250km/h, maximum freight train speed is 120km/h. Total project investment under this option is about 72.02 billion USD.
Scenario 3: Build a new North – South railway line, double track, rail gauge 1,435mm, load capacity of 22.5 tons/axle, operate passenger trains and reserve for cargo when needed; Design speed 350km/h. Total project investment under this option is about 68.98 billion USD. In case of immediate investment in infrastructure, equipment, and facilities to serve the operation of freight trains running from North to South, the investment cost is about 71.69 USD.
Mr. Doan Van Thang – Consulting and Design Corporation of the Ministry of Transport (TEDI)
Impact on regional planning, 20 provinces
As an expert in architecture and urban planning, Architect Dao Ngoc Nghiem said that the Draft Project has basically and synchronously stated the contents, with a focus on prioritizing the development of key infrastructure for Transport (including railways) is one of three breakthroughs in the 10-year socio-economic development strategy (2021 – 2030) – but this is also a bottleneck in the base to accelerate regulation work. National plans (regions, national sectors…), and especially provincial plans (currently only 19/63 provinces and cities have been approved), orienting the TOD model to impact the planned urbanization of the provinces. There is a high-speed railway passing through. This impact needs to be further analyzed in the above context.
According to architect Dao Ngoc Nghiem, to achieve the set goal, we unanimously apply the implementation of overall technical design (FEED) instead of basic design in investment projects. However, to be effective, two clearer proposals are needed for the appraisal council to ensure harmonious development with the provinces where the railway passes through (20 provinces and cities). When the policy is approved, it is necessary to be more specific in adjusting legal documents, not just adjusting the revised Railway Law as drafted (section 8.1), but general principles should be stated. This is a railway line with a new alignment that greatly impacts regional planning and the general planning of 20 provinces. Therefore, the solution to change the use purpose is not only forest land but also many other functions. Therefore, when proposing the site clearance item as an independent project based on each locality, it is necessary to propose that localities be assigned to implement and have the right to decide on local adjustments to provincial planning…
Architect Dao Ngoc Nghiem – expert in architecture and urban planning
Three “missing” things in the Draft Project
At the conference, Associate Professor, PhD. Doan Minh Tam – Senior Researcher specializing in Transport has frankly pointed out that the Draft Project lacks assessment content on the currently operating Thong Nhat railway; lack of analysis of Malaysia’s experience and reasons for not developing high-speed rail; Not paying enough attention to evaluating economic and technical efficiency.
Associate Professor, PhD. Doan Minh Tam agrees that it is necessary to invest in high-speed railways on the North – South axis but should only focus on choosing two options, which are: Do not invest in immediately building high-speed railway V = 350 Km/h but only choose to invest in building high-speed railway V = 200-250 Km/h for private travel or standard railway V = 150 Km/h for shared travel. – It is necessary to fully prepare the legal and technical basis related to planning and classification of railways according to function and QCVN and TCVN on high-speed railways to serve as a basis and standard framework for the Project. – High-speed railway investment policy project on the North – South axis, basically stating the need for investment, perspectives, investment scenarios, … but due to lack of legal basis and technical, so it is not reliable enough and not feasible. Therefore, it needs to be supplemented and edited.
Associate Professor, PhD. Senior researcher specializing in Transport Doan Minh Tam
Pay attention to environmental issues
According to Vice President of the Vietnam Environmental Economics Association – Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen The Chinh, the Draft Project partly mentioned environmental issues, especially from the perspective of project construction. However, the content in the Draft Project only covers some issues related to the environment, so it is necessary to research and supplement the missing environmental issues in the Draft Project to ensure comprehensiveness. and adequate for environmental issues.
It is necessary to consider and integrate land use content and effects on land use purpose conversion, especially the boundaries related to agricultural land and rice land that have been included in the planning in the master plan. national land use.
Vice President of Vietnam Environmental Economics Association Nguyen The Chinh
For water sources, especially drainage. Because high-speed railways are built across the country, our country’s terrain slopes from West to East, especially in the Central Coast region. When the railway design is built, it will form like a high dyke, causing danger. Preventing water from circulating, especially in the rainy season, is very large, so in the project it is necessary to pay attention to this issue to have an effective drainage construction plan.
Also according to Vice President of the Vietnam Environmental Economics Association Nguyen The Chinh, air and noise pollution during railway construction also need to be mentioned, especially excavation, drilling, blasting, and transportation. Moving soil and rock through residential areas, schools, hospitals… needs to be mentioned in the project to have appropriate treatment plans.
The Draft High-Speed Railway Project also needs to include content related to the social environment, positive and negative aspects of social issues during construction and after being put into operation for high-speed railway – Mr. Nguyen The Chinh added.
In general, the opinions at the workshop basically agreed with the Draft High-Speed Railway Investment Policy Project on the North-South axis, however, it needs to be supplemented and edited before submitting to competent authorities for approval. .
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