The modernisation of Viet Nam's railway system is projected to cost about 5.1 billion USD, experts said during an event on detailed plans to upgrade the 1,726 km stretch of the North-South railway from Ha Noi to HCM City.

A north-south train of Viet Nam Railway Authority (Photo: VNRA)

The plan, introduced to the public on September 18 by the Viet Nam Railway Authority (VNRA), outlined major projects to be carried out until 2030. The plan aims to eliminate bottlenecks, such as the tunnels of Khe Net and Hai Van, and move the Da Nang Train Station out of the city, as well as more than 90 other infrastructure upgrades to the railway system.

The country's fleet of locomotives would 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 84.4 kmh for passenger trains and 55.7 kmh for freight trains by 2020 at a cost of about 85.2 trillion VND (3.96 billion USD).

The section option would increase the rail speed to 95.7 kmh for passenger trains and 63.1 kmh for freight trains at a cost of about 110.8 trillion VND (5.1 billion USD).

Investment sources include the State's budget, official development assistance sources, and build-operate-transfer and build-transfer models. 

(Source: VNA)