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| Photo for illustration. (Source: VNA) |
Towards a modern and sustainable transport system
As a country with territory stretching nearly 2,000 km from north to south, railways always play an important role, being the national traffic artery. Once the railway is put into operation, travel time between provinces and cities will be significantly reduced, which will contribute to promoting economic and trade development between regions. On the other hand, traveling by rail also helps reduce traffic congestion, reduce environmental pollution and achieve the country's environmental protection goals.
Many experts say that in order to develop freight transport, railways must take the lead, because this is a method of transporting large volumes, with much cheaper costs than road and airways. In addition, with low carbon emissions, railways are an environmentally friendly means of transport, in line with the trend of green and sustainable development.
Creating great breakthrough for economy
The Ministry of Planning and Investment said that the above project is expected to contribute about 0.97 percentage points to GDP growth each year during construction. Revenue from land exploitation and commercial activities can bring in about 22 billion USD, not including revenue from ticket sales. The North-South high-speed railway is also an important factor in attracting domestic and foreign investment. Enterprises will see the advantages of investing in industrial parks, economic zones and service areas near stations, taking advantage of the convenience in transportation and logistics. The presence of this railway also contributes to increasing the value of real estate around stations, creating opportunities for urban and local economic development.
In addition, fast travel between provinces and cities also helps expand the labor market, allowing people in remote provinces to work in major economic centers while still easily returning to their hometowns, contributing to reducing population pressure on urban areas.
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| Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chairs the meeting on the North - South high-speed railway project. (Photo: Duong Giang/VNA) |
Experts' consensus
Economic expert, Dr. Bui Trinh shared that he has traveled by high-speed train in many places such as Japan and Europe and the benefits for users such as reducing travel time and lower costs than traveling by plane are obvious.
“Personally, I strongly support the North-South high-speed railway because it will be easy for me to visit my children in HCMC from Hanoi,” Dr. Bui Trinh affirmed.
Dr. Nguyen Quoc Viet, Deputy Head of the Institute for Economic and Policy Research (University of Economics, Vietnam National University, Hanoi), said that the construction of the North-South High-Speed Railway will contribute to increasing total demand by increasing state spending and stimulating production industries. According to him, this is an important infrastructure for economic development in many localities, spreading to many economic sectors and thereby promoting the whole economy.
However, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Viet also noted that during the project implementation process, progress must not be delayed, because if the project is prolonged, the investment capital will increase compared to the estimate. Therefore, he suggested that it should be done in a rolling manner, implementing in parts and put into use immediately to create a spillover effect. In addition, reasonable investment phases also ensure feasibility when implementing and arranging necessary resources, in line with Vietnam’s economic situation. This also helps the Government continue to implement annual development investment policies such as infrastructure development, climate change response or investment in healthcare and education.
According to research by the Vietnam - Japan Consulting Joint Venture (VJC), the North - South high-speed railway will be an effective solution to help save travel time for passengers with a value of about 2 billion USD. Social travel costs will also be significantly reduced, estimated at about 6.5 billion USD by 2050. With the high determination and consensus of the entire political system, people in the North and South can satisfy their wish of "Eating breakfast in Hanoi, lunch in Saigon" in the near future./.