VIETNAM: Work is getting underway on the construction of an inter-regional high speed railway between Hanoi and Hạ Long, following a groundbreaking ceremony attended by Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and other senior officials.
Being developed by the VinSpeed subsidiary of Vingroup, the 121 km line is expected to be completed by the end of 2028 at an estimated cost of more than 147tr dong.
The 1 435 mm gauge double-track electrified line will run from Co Loa in the northeast suburbs of Hanoi to Hạ Long in the coastal Quảng Ninh province, with four intermediate stations including at the future Gia Binh Airport in Bac Ninh, Ninh Xa in Hai Phong and Yen Tu in Quảng Ninh. The depot is expected to be located close to the Hạ Long terminus.
The line is being designed for a maximum speed of 350 km/h, although the trains will be limited to 120 km/h within the capital. The fastest end-to-end journey time is expected to be just 23 min, compared with around 3 h today.
The line is being developed as a turnkey project, with rolling stock, signalling and communications systems to be supplied by Siemens Mobility. Last year the company signed a comprehensive strategic partnership and framework co-operation agreement with the VinSpeed High Speed Railway Investment & Development Joint Stock Co.
CEO Michael Peter told attendees at the groundbreaking ceremony on April 12 that his company would deliver ‘world-proven’ high speed rail technology, explaining that the long-term co-operation agreement with Vingroup covered technology transfer, joint assembly, and maintenance, aimed at supporting the development of a high speed rail ‘ecosystem’ in Vietnam.
Vingroup Vice Chairman & CEO Nguyen Viet Quan told local media that the groundbreaking underscored the group’s determination to contribute to infrastructure development, ‘supporting socio-economic growth and improving quality of life’.
Bui Van Khang, Chairman of the Quảng Ninh provincial People’s Committee, said the ‘mega-project’ reflected both the strong capacity and commitment of the investor and the increasingly significant role of the private sector in developing the country’s critical infrastructure. Vietnam’s first inter-regional high speed railway was expected to provide a strong boost to the northern economic region, marking ‘a new phase of accelerated development’ and helping to enhance national competitiveness, he suggested.
In May 2015, Vingroup registered its interest in bidding for development of a long-planned high speed railway between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, but in December it wrote to the government asking to withdraw from the 1 541 km north-south project, explaining that the group intended to focus its resources on other schemes. As well as the Hanoi – Hạ Long line, these included a 54 km line running south from Ben Thanh in Ho Chi Min City to Cần Giờ on the coast, which had recently been approved by the HCM City People’s Committee.