The Ministry of Construction said it is finalising railway standards, technical regulations and cost norms to facilitate the implementation of major rail projects.
As of June 30, Vietnam had 1,791 railway standards, comprising 854 domestic and 937 foreign standards, along with 40 technical regulations.
The framework for high-speed rail includes 605 standards, comprising 225 Vietnamese and 380 foreign standards, including 166 European or international and 214 Chinese standards.
Urban rail projects are covered by 601 standards, including 371 Vietnamese and 230 foreign standards. The ministry expects to issue the national technical regulation for metro systems later this month.
The Lao Cai-Hanoi-Haiphong railway project will apply 585 standards, including 258 Vietnamese and 327 Chinese standards.
The ministry said the existing standards and regulations were sufficient to support project implementation, with no major technical obstacles identified. It is also developing 14,600 cost norms for railway projects.
At a recent government meeting on key transport projects, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung instructed the ministry to quickly appoint an international consultancy consortium to prepare the feasibility study for the North-South high-speed railway and select an independent reviewer for the project.
He also urged the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Construction and the State Appraisal Council to expedite appraisal of the revised pre-feasibility study for the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Haiphong railway before submitting it to the government and the National Assembly Standing Committee.
The governments of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were instructed to accelerate investment preparation, land clearance and construction of metro lines to meet network expansion targets.
The North-South high-speed railway is preparing bidding documents to select consultants for surveys and the feasibility study, while local authorities are carrying out land clearance.
The revised pre-feasibility study for the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Haiphong railway has been completed and is under appraisal, while procedures are also being prepared for a cross-border bridge agreement with China.
Hanoi plans to develop 11 metro lines spanning 450 km, while Ho Chi Minh City aims to build 10 lines with a combined length of 346 km.
