Planning 10 railway routes in the hub area

The planning consultancy consortium of Transport Design Consulting Corporation (TEDI) - Transport Development Investment Consulting Center (CCDTI) has proposed a detailed planning plan for the railway route in the Hanoi city hub area, with 10 routes including 5 existing routes and 5 newly built routes.

With the existing route, the Hanoi - Hai Phong railway line at the Hanoi hub has its starting point at Gia Lam station (before the formation of the Eastern belt), Lac Dao station (after the construction and exploitation of the Eastern belt) in Lac Dao commune, Van Lam district, Hung Yen province. The end point is Tuan Luong station (Luong Tai commune, Van Lam district, Hung Yen province).

The route is oriented to continue to maintain the single-track type, 1000mm gauge. The route length within the current hub area is about 27km, after converting the Gia Lam - Lac Dao section will be reduced to 7.7km.

The Hanoi - Lang Son railway line starts at Hanoi station (before handing over the radial line to Hanoi City), Yen Vien station (after constructing and operating the Eastern belt line). The end point is Bac Ninh station. The current length of the line in the hub area is 18.05km; after renovation, it will be 21.45km. The line is oriented to build a double-track line on the basis of building a new 1435mm gauge line next to the current single-track line with 1000mm and 1435mm gauge.

The Hanoi - Thai Nguyen railway line starts at Dong Anh station (Dong Anh town, Dong Anh district, Hanoi city), and ends at Quan Trieu station (Thai Nguyen). The length of the line in the hub area is 53.50km. The line will continue to maintain the single track type, with a gauge of 1000mm and 1435mm for the Dong Anh - Luu Xa section. The Luu Xa - Quan Trieu section is currently a single track with a gauge of 1000mm, which will be upgraded to a gauge of 1000mm and 1435mm to unify the entire line.

The Hanoi - Lao Cai railway line starts at Yen Vien station; ends at Lao Cai station; and connects to Ha Khau Bac station (China). The length of the line in the hub area is 20.05km. The planning orientation of the line continues to maintain the single-track type, with a gauge of 1000mm.

The Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City railway line starts at Hanoi station (currently), Ngoc Hoi station (after the construction and exploitation of Ngoc Hoi complex and the Eastern beltway); the end point is Saigon station (Hoa Hung). The length of the line in the hub area is 43.36km.

The route planning orientation continues to maintain the single-track type, 1,000mm gauge. Station areas connected to the 1,435mm gauge railway are arranged with nested rails. The starting point of the high-speed railway and the Southern national railway stops at Ngoc Hoi; For the Ngoc Hoi - Giap Bat - Hanoi radial section: Transfer back to the locality to build urban railway line No. 1 after completing and putting into operation the Eastern beltway (Ngoc Hoi - Lac Dao - Bac Hong - Thach Loi section) and building the Ngoc Hoi station complex.

With 5 newly built railway lines, the consultant proposed the Eastern belt railway line (Ngoc Hoi - Lac Dao - Thach Loi) about 65.1km long, divided into 2 sections: The section from Ngoc Hoi - Lac Dao connects the Southern route to Ho Chi Minh City with the Eastern route to Hai Phong; The section from Lac Dao - Bac Hong - Thach Loi connects the Hanoi - Hai Phong railway with the Western railway line Hanoi - Lao Cai and the Northern railway line Hanoi - Dong Dang and Hanoi - Thai Nguyen.

The Western Belt Railway (Thach Loi - Tay Ha Noi - Ngoc Hoi) is connected to the Hanoi - Lao Cai railway, then the route follows the direction of the road belt 4 (parallel to the outside of belt 4), crossing the Red River at the new Hong Ha bridge through the Ha Dong area connecting to the southern throat of Ngoc Hoi station. The scope of the new Western Belt Railway from Ngoc Hoi - Thach Loi is about 50.2km long, passing through the stations: Phung, Tay Ha Noi, Ha Dong.

The Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway line, in the hub area, has its starting point at Vinh Phuc station; its ending point at Luong Tai station (Hung Yen province). The length of the line within the hub area is 81.39km, of which 33.27km overlaps with the Eastern belt railway.

The Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway line, with a length within the Hanoi hub area of ​​43.71km, is calculated from Yen Vien station to the end of Bac Ninh province.

The high-speed railway line on the North-South axis is currently being studied, with a route length in the Hanoi hub area of ​​about 65km. Starting point: High-speed railway station at Ngoc Hoi complex, connecting high-speed railway trains to Hanoi central station by Hanoi urban railway line No. 1. The end point is at Km65+060 in Ha Nam province. The section through Hanoi is about 28.71km long, with one station, Ngoc Hoi station.

Accordingly, Ngoc Hoi station (Thanh Tri district, Hanoi) is the southern regional hub station for high-speed railways, urban railways and national railways. The station is built in the Ngoc Hoi complex, which is the southern hub station with the main function of receiving and setting up passenger and freight trains for railway lines south of the Red River. Scale: Station square 3.95ha; high-speed railway station area 8ha. Along with that is the national railway passenger station area of ​​14.6ha; freight station area; locomotive factories, passenger cars, freight cars; high-speed railway depot...

More than 367,000 billion needed for synchronous investment

The consultant proposed a preliminary estimate of the total investment in the Hanoi railway hub at 367,380 billion VND.

However, according to the consultant, in order to promote the effectiveness of project investment, the radial railway sections in the Hanoi hub area need to be implemented synchronously on the entire route according to important national projects and priority investment projects in the 2021-2030 period as oriented by the Railway Network Planning (QH1769).

Therefore, the consultant proposed a list of priority investment projects: Renovation and upgrading of existing radial railway lines; North-South high-speed railway line, Hanoi - Vinh section; Eastern belt railway line (Ngoc Hoi - Lac Dao - Thach Loi); Yen Vien - Pha Lai - Ha Long - Cai Lan railway line; Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway line.

Regarding the investment phase plan, the consultant proposed: For existing railway lines, the newly built radial railway line must comply with the investment phase plan according to the proposed Railway Network Plan. Of which, 68,115 billion VND is needed to electrify existing railway lines; 21,148 billion VND is needed to upgrade the Hanoi - Dong Dang railway.

For the Eastern beltway, phase 1 (until 2040), the total investment is about 108,646 billion VND, investing in the Ngoc Hoi - Lac Dao - Yen Thuong single-track section with dual-gauge; the Yen Thuong - Thach Loi double-track section (one dual-gauge section; one 1435mm gauge section).

Phase 2 (2040-2050) total investment is about 7,274 billion VND; investing in upgrading the Ngoc Hoi - Lac Dao - Yen Thuong section to a double track in the direction of maintaining the exploitation of the phase 1 double track and investing in an additional 1435mm track next to it. Yen Thuong - Thach Loi section: continue to exploit on a double track scale (one double track, one 1435mm track).

Western beltway, total investment of about 57,429 billion VND. Because the capacity of the Eastern beltway can meet the demand until 2045, it is necessary to prepare for investment in the Western beltway in the period of 2041-2045; implement investment to put into operation in the period before 2050 to reduce the load on the Eastern beltway. Diverging scale: Single track 1435mm gauge but reserve infrastructure for double track 1435mm gauge.