Two Chinese contractors have proposed that the Vietnamese Transport Ministry should use Chinese loans to build the Saigon-Loc Ninh rail route running through the two southern provinces of Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc, online local magazine Giao Thong Van Tai (Transport) reported Monday.
According to the proposal by China National Machinery Import & Export Corp (CMC) and China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), they will participate in building key parts of the 128.2 kilometer rail route stretching from Binh Duong's Di An town to Binh Phuoc's Loc Ninh district bordering Cambodia. The route will allow trains to run at speeds of 120 km per hour.
Vietnam's railway sector transported 3.5 million passengers between January and April, seeing a year-on-year drop of 4.7%, said the country's General Statistics Office. Meanwhile, it transported 2.3 million tons of cargo, up 4.5%.
An overview of the Singapore-Kunming Rail Link. Source: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
A rail link is now being planned between the central province of Ha Tinh and Laos capital city Vientiane, as part of a network between China and Southeast Asian countries.
Vietnamese transport ministry will collaborate with Korea International Cooperation Agency for a feasibility study of the 550-kilometer line, which will start at Vung Ang Port, news website Saigon Times Online reported on Wednesday.
The Korean agency will disburse US$3 million over the next three years for the study and the training of personnel, the report said.
The route is a spur line of the Singapore-Kunming Rail Link, which covers 6,617 kilometers and goes through Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Since work first started on the network in 2009, some of its sections have been completed.
Others including a 129-kilometer line between Ho Chi Minh City and Loc Ninh District in the southern province of Binh Phuoc are still being studied or awaiting funding.
The Ministry of Transport is looking for a private company to operate a tourist rail line in the Central Highlands resort town of Da Lat, following decades of losses, news website Saigon Times Online reported on Wednesday.
The seven-kilometer Da Lat-Trai Mat line connects the only train station in the city center with the farms and rural neighborhoods in the southeastern outskirts.
Built in the 1930s, the line was abandoned for more than 20 years before it was revived in 1991 to serve tourists. But it has reported losses ever since.
The government spends around VND1.2 billion (US$53,000) offsetting losses and maintaining the service every year, according to the news report.
Vietnam Railways, the state-owned manager of the country's rail system, was quoted as saying that two companies have applied for the operating rights.
Since the beginning of this year, the government has announced several plans to privatize transport infrastructure such as airports, expressways and rail lines, saying that it needs money for new projects.
Vietnam's government plans to earmark more than VND1 trillion ($48 billion) for transport projects over the next five years.
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