The Ministry of Transport will speed up the construction of two projects of high-speed trains linking Hanoi with the central province of Nghe An's Vinh city, and Ho Chi Minh City with the south-central province of Khanh Hoa's Nha Trang beach city.

The two high-speed trains are expected to be put into operation by 2030.

Totaling 651 kilometers long, the two high-speed railroad routes will cost some VND561.6 trillion (US$24.3 billion).

Once they are up and running, work will start on other routes to complete the North-South or trans-Vietnam high-speed railroad.

A high-speed train model between Hanoi and Vinh city in the north-central Nghe An province. Source: MoT

The trans-Vietnam high-speed railroad is a key task in the draft railway plan for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050 designed by the transport ministry.

Speaking at a recent meeting held in Hanoi, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The said the railway industry set target to transport 16.50 million tons of cargo and 30.9 million passengers by 2030. The figure is expected to increase by 15% of cargo and 19% of passengers by 2050.

The transport minister also requested the plan consultants to complete the final report of the draft railway planning for the period of 2031- 2050.

The investment capital demand for the railway industry in this period would be more than VND1.5 trillion (US$65 million), in which some US$33 million will be invested in high-speed train and US$32 million for conventional rail services.

To occupy more marketshare of the transportation industry as designed, Dr. Dang Huy Dong, director of the Planning and Development Institute, said the ticket price of high-speed trains running at 350 kilometers per hour (kph) would be lower than airfares to be competitive.

“However, passenger trains running at speeds of 150 kph and 100 kph would bring optimum socio-economic benefits, and reduce subsidies,” Dong added.

Former deputy transport minister La Ngoc Khue rejected the proposal for 350 kph train saying that it would entail huge costs since Vietnam would need to import equipment and expertise.

He suggested building railway service with a top speed of 140 kph instead to ensure economic and technical feasibility.

Vietnam has over 3,000km of track; none of it is high speed. In addition to high-speed railways, seven new railway lines will be built at this stage and the old lines will be improved, according to the plan.