Hanoi (VNA) - The investment potential for high-speed railway system in Vietnam is huge, according to the Ministry of Transport.

The future North-South high-speed railway line is expected to contribute 1 percentage point to the country’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the 2025-2037 period, says a report by the ministry and the General Statistics Office.

It is also forecast that by 2050, the total demand for rail passenger transport will be about 120 million users a year, and freight transport about 18 million tonnes per year.

La Ngoc Khue, a former Deputy Minister of Transport, suggested the high-speed railway services embrace cargo transportation with the aim of cutting logistics costs, and linking with international railway systems.

Given its competitive edges over inland waterways and sea routes, the high-speed train project offers a huge opportunity for the railway industry to increase its long-haul freight transportation and increase the country’s economic competitiveness, Khue added. At the recent second gathering of the steering committee for the North-South high-speed railway line and key national railways projects, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha re-affirmed that investing in the line will create a motivation for socio-economic development and ensure national defence and security.

Industrialised and modernised countries need to invest in high-speed railways to reduce logistics costs and improve the competitiveness of the economy, stressed Ha.

He asked the Ministry of Transport to comprehensively evaluate factors such as technology; engineering; safety; transport organisation and capacity on the North - South axis, including both high-speed railways and the existing 1,000 mm gauge railways; the feasibility; capital mobilisation plans; and financial and economic efficiency to choose the optimal scenario for high-speed railway development.

In the national master plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, and the railway network planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, the 1,435mm dual gauge railway will be around 1,545km in length, running through 20 cities and provinces, including Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City. It will start at Hanoi’s Ngoc Hoi station and end at Ho Chi Minh City’s Thu Thiem station.

Of the total investment, some 2 billion USD will be allocated for site clearance, 31.58 billion USD for construction, and 15 billion USD for equipment.

The projec✃t is proposed to be carried out in two phases, with two sections, Hanoi – Vinh and Nha Trang – HCM City, to be ♏built in the first phase with a projected investment of 24.72 billion USD and completed in 2032. In the second phase, the Vinh-Nha Trang section will be built at an investment of nearly 34 billion USD and completed by 2050./.