Upgrades to Vietnam rail system to cost US$5.1 billion
THE modeisation of Vietnam's railway system is projected to cost about US$5.1 billion (Bt180 billion), experts said during an event on detailed plans to upgrade the 1,726-kilometre stretch of the North-South Railway from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City.
The plan, introduced to the public on Friday by the Vietnam Railway Authority (VNRA), outlined major projects to be carried out until 2030. The plan aims to eliminate bottlenecks, such as the tunnels of Khenet and Haivan, and move the Danang train station out of the city, as well as more than 90 other infrastructure upgrades to the railway system. The country’s railway fleet will expand to include an additional 14 passenger trains and 24 freight trains.
Planners are weighing two options to modernise the country’s railway system and increase passenger-train speeds. The first option would increase the rail speed to 84.4km/h for passenger trains and 55.7km/h for freight trains by 2020 at a cost of about 85.2 trillion dong (Bt135 billion).
The second option would increase the rail speed to 95.7km/h for passenger trains and 63.1km/h for freight trains at a cost of about 110.8 trillion dong.
Investment sources include the state budget, official development assistance sources, and build-operate-transfer and build-transfer models.
