Sharing experiences in developing high-speed railway network

During May 10-12, an interdisciplinary delegation led by Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Danh Huy visited Spain to survey and discuss issues related to high-speed railways.

On May 10, the delegation worked with Mr. David Lucas Parron, Secretary of State of the Spanish Ministry of Transport and Municipalities. Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Danh Huy informed about the situation of transport cooperation between the two countries, the current status of Vietnam's transport and the planned plan to research and implement investment in the high-speed railway line on the North-South axis, the difficulties and challenges that Vietnam is facing. The Deputy Minister also highly appreciated the achievements that Spain has made in researching and developing the railway network, especially high-speed railway, and expressed his hope that Spain would share its experiences with Vietnam.

With the experience of the country with the longest high-speed rail network in Europe - more than 4,000km and the second in the world (after China), Secretary of State David Lucas Parron and colleagues from the Department of International Cooperation, the Department of Planning and Control of the Railway System under the Spanish Ministry of Transport and Municipality, the Railway Infrastructure Management Company (ADIF), the Association of Infrastructure Contractors (SEOPAN) shared experiences in policy planning, high-speed rail development plans, speed selection, and exploitation organization plans.

The Spanish side also shared experiences in mobilizing financial resources; management models of state management agencies; management, operation, exploitation, and maintenance models... of the conventional and high-speed railway networks in Spain.

In the afternoon of the same day, the interdisciplinary working group surveyed and learned about the actual management, operation and exploitation work at Atocha station - the central station in Madrid city.

On May 11, the delegation met and worked with Ms. Xiana M. Méndez Bartolo, Secretary of State of the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism. At the meeting, Deputy Minister Nguyen Danh Huy emphasized that Vietnam and Spain established diplomatic relations on May 23, 1977 and upgraded bilateral relations to strategic partnership in December 2009. Over the past 46 years, the friendship and cooperation between the two countries have developed continuously. Politically, Spain is the first EU country to establish a strategic partnership with Vietnam.

Economically, bilateral trade turnover has grown strongly in recent years, from nearly 1.2 billion USD in 2010 to over 3 billion USD/year in the past 10 years, making Vietnam the country with the largest trade exchange with Spain in ASEAN. In 2022 alone, Vietnam's exports to Spain will reach over 4 billion euros and Vietnam's imports from Spain will reach over 525 million euros.

In the field of transport, the Deputy Minister said that due to the great geographical distance, the two countries currently only have cooperation activities in aviation. The air transport agreement between the Government of Vietnam and the Government of Spain signed on December 9, 2014 in Madrid, has created a legal basis for air transport activities between Vietnam and Spain. The Deputy Minister expressed his hope that the two sides will promote cooperation in the future, especially in the railway sector. The Deputy Minister proposed that the Government of Spain provide technical assistance to Vietnam to research and develop high-speed railways.

Welcoming the delegation to work with the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Secretary of State Xiana M. Méndez Bartolo said that the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism always supports proposals to enhance transport cooperation between the two countries and promoting railway cooperation is one of the main priorities of the Spanish Government. She also said that the two sides are currently discussing to implement the 6th Financial Plan between Vietnam and Spain, agreeing with the proposal of the Vietnamese side on integrating technical support for the high-speed railway project into this plan.

Learn about railway management and exploitation models

The delegation also met and discussed with capable and prestigious enterprises in the Spanish railway sector such as: CEDEX - a research and testing center for public works; INECO - a multinational consulting company specializing in consulting and management solutions in the field of transport and infrastructure construction; CAF - a multinational company specializing in the production of means of transport including trains (high-speed trains, urban trains and trams), regular trains and buses.

At the meetings, Deputy Minister Nguyen Danh Huy expressed his thanks to Spanish businesses for taking the time to receive and work with the delegation. The Deputy Minister emphasized that Spain is one of the world's leading countries in the railway industry and the leader in Europe in terms of high-speed railway kilometers. Spain has many strengths in high-speed railway technology as well as valuable experience in the construction, operation, management and exploitation of high-speed railways.

Representatives of enterprises expressed their desire to cooperate with Vietnam in the fields of transportation, including railways. They also shared experiences in high-speed railway technology as well as experiences in construction, operation and development of high-speed railways...

During the working program in Spain, the delegation met and worked with TALGO - a Spanish company specializing in the design, manufacture and maintenance of railway vehicles including locomotives, carriages, EMU trains, electric trains, intercity passenger trains and high-speed trains; Renfe Group provides domestic and international passenger transport services, including urban railways, intercity railways, high-speed railways and international intercity railways, and freight transport in domestic and international logistics chains.

The delegation is expected to continue working with relevant units of the Spanish Ministry of Transport and Municipalities. After that, the delegation will conduct a survey at the German railway from May 15-18.