On the morning of February 14, at the ninth Interim special session of the 15th National Assembly, entrusted by the Prime Minister of the government, Minister of Transport Chen Hung Minh submitted an investment proposal report on the Lao CAI - Hanoi - Haiphong railway construction investment project.

In his report to Parliament, Minister Tran said the project is expected to bring many benefits to Vietnam's economy, lay the foundation and provide impetus for the country's development in a new era, and enhance national competitiveness.

The Laogai-Hanoi-Haiphong railway line, which connects China, will meet the transport demand and optimize the transport structure to maximize the advantages of regional multimodal transport.

At the same time, through efficient use of land resources, create new economic development space and resources, and promote the development of construction industry, railway industry and supporting industries; Promote the growth of urbanization, tourism and services.

The project starts at the cross-border rail connection between Laojie New Station and China Hekou North Station, and ends at the Deep water Port area of Haiphong Li County, with a total length of about 390.9 kilometers and three branch lines with a total length of about 27.9 kilometers. The route passes through nine provinces and cities: Lao CAI, An Pei, Phu Tho, Yong Phuc, Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Hoh An, Hai Duong and Hai Phong.

Among them, the design speed of the main line from Laojie New Station to Haiphong South Station is 160 km/h; The design speed of the road through the Hanoi area is 120 km/h; The feeder and connecting lines are designed for speeds of 80 km/h. The project will use centralised power train technology for both passenger and freight transport.

As for the Lao CAI - Hanoi - Haiphong Railway project, the public investment model is proposed, and the total investment of the project is about 203,231 billion VND, about 8.369 billion US dollars.

Proposed sources of funding include the national budget (central and local fiscal), domestic socialized financing funds, foreign funds (loans from the Chinese government), and other legal funds.

The project progress is expected to complete the preparation of the feasibility study report in 2025, and strive to basically complete and open to traffic in 2030. The Vietnam Railway Corporation will be responsible for the management, maintenance and operation of the entire infrastructure and will be authorized to use all operational equipment and tools. Editor/Xu Shengpeng