The Ministry of Transport (MoT) is seeking the Prime Minister’s approval on plans to reorganise toll booths at the Hai Van tunnel area.

Vehicles at the Bac Hai Van toll station in Thua Thien-Hue Province, which currently collects fees for the Phu Gia-Phuoc Tuong BOT tunnel project. (Photo: VNA/VNS)

Accordingly, the BOT Bac Hai Van toll station will collect fees for both the Ca Pass Tunnel Project, including Hai Van Pass Tunnel expansion (Hai Van Tunnel 2), and Phu Gia-Phuoc Tuong Tunnel Project.

Currently, Bac Hai Van toll station collects fees for just the Phu Gia-Phuoc Tuong BOT tunnel project. The Nam Hai Van toll station, which has not yet been built, will collect fees for Hai Van Tunnel 2. It will be just 10km away from the BOT Bac Hai Van toll station.

If the station is built, people coming from Da Nang will have to pay double, including one before entering Hai Van Tunnel and another one for Phu Gia-Phuoc Tuong after leaving the tunnel. This will likely upset vehicle owners, affecting security around the toll station.

According to the officials from the Ministry of Transport, the benefit of the plan proposed to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is to reduce the number of toll stations. It means that there would be two stations from Hue to Da Nang, namely Phu Bai and Bac Hai Van, instead of 3 new toll stations within a distance of about 74km from Hue to Lang Co Tourist site and Hai Van Tunnel. It would also help save the cost of building a new toll station (between 50-70 billion VND or 2.2-3 million US$).

In the future, the fees at Bac Hai Van will be higher than other toll stations on National Highway 1 due to the combination of fees for the two projects. However, the MoT confirmed that because the station is located on the approach road leading to the Hai Van Pass, people could choose not to use the tunnel if they don’t want to pay fees.

The MoT is coordinating with investors to complete the procedures for adjusting the fee collection plan at Bac Hai Van toll station.

According to the transport ministry, the fee at Bac Hai Van toll station will be kept unchanged until 2021 in accordance with the signed Phu Gia-Phuoc Tuong Tunnel BOT contract. After 2021, the fee will be decided based on the conditions and specific financial plans of the projects.

The Ca Pass Tunnel project connects the central provinces of Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa, including Cu Mong Pass Tunnel and Hai Van Pass Tunnel expansion, with total investment capital of 26.1 trillion VND (1.15 billion US$). Of the capital, 21.1 trillion VND is from a BOT source and the rest is from the State Budget. It has a payback period of 29 years.

(Source: VNS)