Recently, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a government meeting to focus on Vietnam’s railway projects, among which the top priority was the North-South Railway and how to connect with China’s railway projects. It is reported that the investment proposal for the North-South High-Speed Railway project has been approved by the Central Committee of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
The planned North-South High-Speed Railway project is about 1,541 kilometers long, with a designed investment speed of 350 kilometers per hour and a total investment of about US$67.34 billion. Starting from Yuhui Station in Hanoi, it passes through 20 provinces and cities and ends in Ho Chi Minh City, where 23 passenger stations and 5 freight stations will be set up.
Vietnam plans to bid for the selection of international supervision units, conduct surveys, and prepare feasibility studies from 2025 to 2026. By the end of 2027, site cleaning, bidding for contractors, and the construction of the Hanoi-Vinh City and Nha Trang-Ho Chi Minh City sections will be started. After that, from 2028 to 2029, the construction of the Vinh to Nha Trang section will be launched, and the investment of the entire line will be completed by 2035.
Tran Quoc Phuong, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment of Vietnam, said that investment expenditure is an important driving force for economic growth, and the North-South High-Speed Railway investment project is the largest project in history. From now to 2035, this investment will promote an increase of about 0.97 percentage points in GDP, making an important contribution to Vietnam’s economic growth. The North-South High-Speed Railway project will have a direct impact on many fields such as the construction industry, building materials supply industry, financial industry, and tourism industry.