$1.8 bln needed to cut train travel time by over 4 hrs

The Transport Ministry has agreed to one of the four projects suggested by Japanese consultants to upgrade the north-south railway system to shorten travel time by about 4 and a half hours.

The ministry has decided to choose the project that will reform the 1,762 km railway link between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City at a cost of US$1.8 billion and reduce the travel time from the current 30 hours to just over 25 hours.

The project is considered to be the most economically feasible, the ministry said.

After the system is upgraded passenger trains will be able to travel at 90 kph, and cargo trains will travel at 60 kph on a 1 meter wide track.

The selection was made at a meeting held by the ministry last weekend to discuss the planned railways projects.

The ministry concluded that the other three projects were much more expensive, less reasonable or less feasible than the chosen project.

Under one of the projects, which would have cost $27.7 billion, the railway would be 1.435 meters wide, and passenger trains would have been able to hit 150 kph, while container and cargo trains would have run at 120 kph and 80 kph, respectively.

Another projected would have required a total investment of $14.5 billion and enabled passenger trains to run at 120 kph, helping to reduce travel time to 15 hours. Cargo trains would have run at 70 kph on this railway.

Meanwhile, the last project aimed to cut travel time by two hours, where trains would have run at 90 kph on a 1 meter-wide track.

All the four projects had been set up by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and consultant companies.