2.2 trillion VND project proposed to improve railway connections with China

The Vietnam Railway Project Management Board under the Ministry of Transport has submitted to the ministry a project with total investment of over 2.2 trillion VND (95.88 million USD) to improve railway connections between Vietnam's Lao Cai Station and China's North Hekou Station.  

The investment of the project is expected to come from the State budget for the middle-term public investment plan for the 2021-2025 period.  

According to the board, the Lao Cai - Hanoi – Hai Phong railway route plays a significant role in transporting goods between China and northern localities of Vietnam and to Hai Phong seaport. 

However, Vietnam has a narrow track gauge railway while China has switched to broad gauge one with only short sections in some border provinces still using narrow gauge tracks. This means Vietnamese trains from Lao Cai Station can only reach North Hekou Station at the farthest in China. As a result, goods will have to be unloaded from Vietnamese trains to be reloaded onto another train to be transported on China's railway system. Chinese trains cannot run to Vietnam for goods loading, either.  

This technical problem has pushed up the transport cost and prevent railway transport from meeting demand for goods transport from Lao Cai border gate to Hai Phong city, which is predicted to reach over 3 million tonnes per year in the time to come. 

The upgrade of the system is expected to ease the burden on the road transport system, while helping cut down costs and time for goods transport between the two countries, the board said. 

The board proposed that around 3km of rail tracks from the Lao Cai Station will be converted to have double tracks with gauges of 1,435mm and 1,000mm, and an additional 2.85 km of twin rail tracks of both gauges will be built from the northern parts of the Lao Cai Station to the Ho Kieu Bridge. 

A railway tunnel spanning 1,700 m, and a warehouse with a capacity of 5 million tonnes a year will also be built, among other infrastructural upgrades. 

A representative of the board said that the project has already been allocated 583 billion VND from the State budget for an earlier version. For the increased capital under the latest version, the board has suggested that it would be added to the list of capital allocation under the Government’s sustainable economic recovery programme to 2023, to be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration./.