Can the North–South Express Railway Begin Construction by the End of Next Year? Vietnam’s Construction Minister Says, "The Schedule Must Be Met"

【HANOI, Vietnam—Correspondent Kim Jun-seok】Vietnam’s largest national project, the North–South express railway, is targeting construction commencement in December 2027. Against this backdrop, the country’s minister of construction has instructed relevant agencies to establish detailed implementation plans for key national railway projects.
According to local media reports on the 10th, Vietnamese Minister of Construction Tran Hong Minh chaired a meeting on the 9th to review progress on the North–South express railway project and the investment project for construction of the Lao Cai–Hanoi–Hai Phong railway.
At the meeting, Minister Minh said, "We must do our utmost to ensure that the two express railway projects—the North–South express railway and the Lao Cai–Hanoi–Hai Phong railway—proceed according to their established schedule targets." He emphasized, "In particular, we must devote all our efforts to begin construction on the North–South express railway in December 2027."
At the meeting, Vietnam’s Department of Construction Investment Management and Economics reported that numerous joint tasks for advancing the key national railway projects had been completed. The projects may directly apply foreign standards, provided that they comply with relevant legal provisions. According to specialized agencies, there are currently no significant obstacles to applying technical standards to the railway projects.
For the North–South express railway project in particular, the project implementing entity has signed a contract for a project-support consulting package. The consulting firm prepared the terms of reference, budget proposal, and request documents for the package to prepare the feasibility study report.
Various procedures to select consulting firms for the investment preparation stage are currently under way. These include consulting services for surveys and preparation of the feasibility study report, consulting services for supervision of surveys, and consulting services for preparing the environmental impact assessment report.
Minister Minh assessed that most of the laws and regulations, technical standards, standard unit prices, and cost criteria requiring extensive work had been established. He instructed the Thang Long Project Management Board and the Railway Project Management Board to establish detailed implementation plans clearly specifying each task and schedule, from site compensation, consulting, and surveys through construction.
He also emphasized the need to carefully review how construction packages would be divided for route infrastructure, stations, rolling stock, equipment, and materials. In addition, he called for policies prioritizing the use of Vietnamese products and services to promote local manufacturing and economic revitalization.
The North–South express railway project is a massive undertaking extending approximately 1,541 kilometers from Ngoc Hoi Station in Hanoi to Thu Thiem Station in Ho Chi Minh City and passing through 15 provinces and cities. Its design speed is 350 kilometers per hour, and its total preliminary investment capital is approximately $67.34 billion. The Thang Long Project Management Board has been designated as the project implementing entity responsible for preparing the feasibility study report for the North–South express railway project.

[email protected] Kim Jun-seok Reporter