Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The has submitted a pre-feasibility study report for a North-South high speed railway project to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. 

This is one of the important projects of the nation, which was decided by the National Assembly on the investment policy and approved by the PM on investment grant.

Accordingly, the total length of the railway is about 1,560 km, running along the North-South corridor, going through 20 localities, connecting Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Of the total, the 14-km section in Hanoi shares the infrastructure with the Hanoi urban railway No. 1 (from Hanoi station to Ngoc Hoi station), and the remaining connects Ngoc Hoi station to Thu Thiem station, with 27 stations, five depots, and 42 infrastructure maintenance facilities.

It is designed for passenger trains to run with a maximum speed of 350km/hour. 

The first phase of the project has a total investment of 561.6 trillion VND (about 24.71 billion USD), while the second costs 772.6 trillion VND.

The whole project is scheduled to be completed in 2050. 

Regarding the investment sources, the report proposes the State to invest about 80- percent of the total, while the remaining 20 percent will be private capital. 

According to an analysis by the research consultancy unit, this ratio creates the feasibility of financial efficiency.

The technology to be applied will be of Japan and Taiwan (China).

When commissioned, it will take 5 hours and 20 minutes for the train to run from Hanoi to HCM city if it does not stop at some stations and about 6 hours and 55 minutes if it stops at all stations along the track route. 

Regarding human resources, the project needs about 13,770 workers with different professions.

If the report is approved by the NA, the Ministry of Transport will prepare to research the establishment of a railway academy or build plans to satisfy the requirements.

The investment plan of the project is expected to be passed by the NA at its meeting in the end of 2019.-VNA