Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Danh Huy asked provinces and cities along the route to finalise detailed land clearance plans, setting clear deadlines, workloads and responsibilities for compensation, resettlement and disbursement.
Local authorities must draw up specific schedules covering different types of land, affected households and graves requiring relocation, as well as the removal of technical infrastructure.
Huy also called for resettlement projects to be accelerated so displaced residents can stabilise their lives as soon as possible.
Land clearance should proceed simultaneously with surveying, inventory work, approval of compensation and resettlement plans, construction of resettlement areas and disbursement, he said.
According to the Railway Project Management Board, the project will require about 2,197 hectares of land and the resettlement of 7,347 households.
A total of 109 resettlement areas are planned, with compensation, support and resettlement costs estimated at more than VND 66.9 trillion (USD 2.54 billion). More than VND 13.8 trillion has been allocated for the work in 2026.
The board said changes to the feasibility study had disrupted land boundary marking and the handover of clearance markers, while repeated adjustments to land acquisition areas could affect local support.
To keep the project on schedule, the board proposed that compensation and land clearance procedures be carried out immediately as each area is surveyed and inventoried, while construction of resettlement areas should be accelerated.
It also called for clearer guidance on land price appraisal and unresolved issues involving compensation and support.
The 426-kilometre railway will run from the Chinese border to Lach Huyen Station in Haiphong, comprising 363 kilometres of main line and 63 kilometres of branch lines. It will pass through 69 communes and wards in six provinces and cities, with 29 stations.
