THE TALK briefings
d e e p S h g i H e h T t c e j o r P l i a R AL NATION
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ietnam has its eyes on a highspeed rail network which would link Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City in just seven hours. The project was initially rejected in 2010 due to the estimated US$56 billion price tag, which was at the time almost half of the country’s entire GDP. The Ministry of Transport is currently assessing whether the project is feasible. The project would then be expected to resume in 2020, although it’s estimated that the full high-speed rail line won’t be completed until 2050.
High Speeds, High Hopes
Since 2010, Vietnam’s economy has continued to grow at an average of around 6% per year, and this has ushered in new infrastructure projects such as the sky train in Hanoi and the metro in Ho Chi Minh City. Many of these projects are being supported by outside financial assistance — namely by Japan. This one is no different; Vietnam and Japan signed a
12 | Word March April 2018 | wordvietnam.com
memorandum of understanding during a state visit in 2006 in which Japan promised to help fund the project. It’s expected that high-demand sections of the line will be prioritized. Hanoi to Vinh, and Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang, are likely to be built first, with the rest of the line filling out later on. This will help manage the substantial cost of the project, tackling it in smaller US$5 billion to US$7 billion packages rather than one gigantic lump. The line will use Japan’s Shinkansen bullet train technology, reaching speeds of up to 200 km/h in the first stage of the project, and 350 km/h once the whole line is complete.
Raised Eyebrows
Vietnam’s current railway line was completed in 1936 by the French colonial administration. It spans 1,726 kilometres from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, with travel times between the two cities around 36 hours. The new high-speed rail project will build an entirely separate rail line,