Vietnam looks for investment to upgrade railway sector
HANOI - Vietnam will need to invest US$1.54 billion to upgrade its railway sector between now and 2010, said a report of the Vietnam Railway Corporation (VRC).
Among the list of key projects of VRC in need of foreign and domestic investments, include the Hanoi-Lao Cai, Hanoi-Hai Phong, Hanoi-Vinh routes in the north and Sai Gon-Loc Ninh and Bien Hoa-Vung Tau routes in the south.
Some sections of the trans-Vietnam route, including the Hanoi-Vinh and Ho Chi Minh City-Nha Trang routes, are also earmarked for upgrades.
The country will also invest in modernising the national railway fibre optical communication system to ensure safety along the trans-Vietnam route, VRC said.
This is important after the E1 train crash earlier this year. The projects will help to ease the rising demand in the future, VRC said.
Meanwhile, France has doubled its Official Development Assistance to reinforce the arches of four railway tunnels at the Hai Van Pass in central Vietnam.
The tunnels are crucial to rail traffic between northern and southern Vietnam.
The extra money will add an extra 6 million euros (US$7.2 million) to the restoration project doubling the original cost.
The Vietnam Railway's Projects Management Unit says the new money will be used to reinforce the tunnels using modern technology because they were seriously eroding.
The project was initially supposed to take 42 months from August 2000 to March 2004. But it is now unlikely to be finished until March next year, two years behind schedule.
Project manager Nguyen Nam Thai said railway tunnels at the Hai Van Pass totalled almost 1,000m. The tunnels were built between 1915 and 1935 and were at least 70 years old.
The work would be done by French VSL-Freyssinet and the Vietnam Railway subsidiary, the Hue Railway Works Company.
French Systra Consulting will be the major supervisor.
The tunnels are distinct from the Hai Van Tunnel that opened last month and is designed as a new gateway for the East-West Economic Corridor - part of ambitious Association of Southeast Asian Nations - Greater Mekong Subregion project.
Built 1,172m above sea level, the tunnel is the first combined road, tunnel, railway and bridge complex in Southeast Asia.
Vietnam News Agency - July 12, 2005.
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