Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has called upon the country’s Ministry of Construction to finalize all preliminary procedures related to the construction of the Vietnamese North-South High-Speed Railway system.

Pham advised ministry officials that construction ought to begin in late 2026, at least a year earlier than initially planned.

The Prime Minister also asked the ministry to submit additional bidding measures related to the project by the end of this month. This is expected to provide ample time for submission to and deliberation on the part of the National Assembly and the National Assembly Standing Committee in May in order to fast-track the project’s progress.

Full speed travel

To be built at the estimated cost of around US$67.34 billion, Vietnam’s North-South high-speed railway will primarily serve passenger transportation and carry light cargo whenever necessary.

Much like Indonesia’s high-speed railway service Whoosh, the North-South high-speed railway will have a designed speed of 350 km/hour.

The electronic railway route will have 23 passenger and five cargo stations connected to key cargo hubs, starting at the Ngoc Hoi station in Hanoi. Trains will subsequently pass through 20 provinces and cities before terminating the journey at the Thu Thiem station in Ho Chi Minh City.