Proposal to allocate more than 2,000 billion to build a railway connecting Lao Cai and Ha Khau stations

The Vietnam Railway Authority has just proposed the Ministry of Transport to allocate medium-term capital for the period 2026-2031 to implement the Railway Project connecting Lao Cai station (Vietnam) to Hekou station (China), the Hanoi - Lao Cai railway route.

The investment objective is to ensure synchronization and suitability with the transport volume when the new railway line Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong - Quang Ninh is put into operation.

In terms of scale, it is planned to upgrade and renovate 200m of the current line into a dual-gauge line (with both 1,000mm and 1,435mm gauges) from Lao Cai station to the starting point of the new route; build a new 2,700m dual-gauge line from the starting point of the new route to the middle point of the new Ho Kieu bridge, renovate the Lao Cai station layout; build a new 2,500m dual-gauge tunnel; build a new 1/2 (100m long) of the new Ho Kieu bridge.

Total estimated investment is 2,150 billion VND, medium-term public investment capital for the period 2026-2031.

Previously, this project was studied based on the relatively large demand for intermodal freight transport on the railway route through this border gate. However, rail transport is still difficult due to the "uneven" track gauge.

Specifically, the Chinese railway has been converted to 1,435mm gauge since 2014. The end point of this gauge network is the new Hekou Bei station, with only a few short routes in the border area connecting to 1,000mm gauge. Therefore, Vietnamese trains from Lao Cai station to China can only reach Hekou, Shanyeo and Hekou Bei stations.

At Hekou Bei Station, goods will have to be transferred to new carriages to continue on the Chinese railway network. Conversely, Chinese trains cannot go to Vietnam to load goods and return to the Chinese railway network.

This technical difficulty has led to increased costs for transferring goods from Vietnamese trains (1,000mm gauge) to Chinese trains (1,435mm gauge).

If the project is invested and completed, it can meet the demand for transporting goods between Lao Cai border gate - Hai Phong port and synchronize with the 1,435mm standard gauge railway line Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong - Quang Ninh under study.