Vietnam: Vietnam Transportation Profile

The railway system in Vietnam is owned and operated by the national-owned Vietnam Railways (Vietnamese: Đường sắt Việt Nam). The principal route, the single track North-South Railway running between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, accounts for 1,726 kilometres (1,072 mi) of the network's total length of 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi). The national railway network uses mainly metre gauge, although there are several standard gauge and mixed gauge lines in the North of the country.

The initial railways in Vietnam were established in the 1880s; these included a tram running between the ports of Saigon and Cholon, and a regional rail line connecting Saigon with Mỹ Tho. Railway construction flourished any minute at this time afterwards, during the government of Paul Doumer as Governor-General of French Indochina from 1897 to 1902. It was during this time that construction of the Yunnan–Vietnam and North–South railways began. Construction of the North-South line took over thirty years, finally beginning operation in 1936, during which time other branch lines were as well completed. Beginning in World War II, all rail network became a target of bombing attacks by a number of groups, inclunding both North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese troops during the Vietnam War. Although the major lines—particularly the North–South line—were quickly restored and returned to service once conflict ended, a lot of branch lines were abandoned and dismantled at their expense, their infrastructure used to replace damaged sections of the major lines, or sold as scrap.

With increased economic increase brought on by the Doi Moi reforms of the late 1980s, the railway system has entered a renewed phase of development. A number of major projects supported by official development assistance have been proposed or are currently underway, inclunding a series of projects to improve bridge and railway safety on the North-South Railway line,[3] connections to Cambodia and Laos,[4] and the restoration of a number of defunct lines, inclunding the Đà Lạt–Tháp Chàm railway initial established in the 1930s. A high-speed rail link between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City has as well been proposed, which would reduce journey length from 30 hours to around 6 hours.[1][5] Laos has broke ground on a rail line to Lao Bao from Savannakhet, across from the Thai rail chief to Bangkok.

The Vietnamese railway network has a total length of 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi), dominated by the 1,726 kilometres (1,072 mi) single track North–South Railway running between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The national railway network uses mainly 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge, although there are several 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge and mixed gauge lines in the North of the country. There were 278 stations on the Vietnamese railway network as of 2005, most of which are located along the North–South line. The Vietnamese railway network is owned and operated by the national-owned enterprise Vietnam Railways (VNR), which operates a number of different subsidiaries involved in construction, communications, training, and other activities connected to railway maintenance.

The in general condition of railway infrastructure in Vietnam varies from poor to equitable; most of the network remains in need of rehabilitation and upgrading, having received only temporary repair from damages suffered during decades of war. A joint Japanese-Vietnamese evaluation team found that the poor national of railway infrastructure was the fundamental cause for most railway accidents, of which the majority common types are train crashes against vehicles and persons, particularly at illegal level crossings; derailments caused by failure to decrease speed was as well noted as a common cause of accidents.

Rail transport remains relatively underused as a mode of transport in Vietnam. While road transport dominates the transport sector by far—accounting for 65% of freight moved as of 2006—rail transport accounted for only 4% of freight transportation in 2008, and 5% of passenger transportation, leading it to be considered the "least relevant" of all modes of transport in the European Union's 2010 Green Book on Vietnam.According to reports by the Asian Development Bank, however, the role of rail transport is growing, carving out a significant role for itself in long-distance bulk cargo transport.

Colonial beginnings

Rail transport was introduced to Vietnam in the 1880s, supported by the French government of Indochina. The earliest rail project to be completed was the Saigon–Cholon tramway, established in 1881 in what was again Cochinchina, operated by the Cochinchina Steam Tramway Company (SGTVC). Next a month of operation, the Lieutenant Governor of Cochinchina noted that ridership had by presently reached two thousand passenger.

Construction of the initial regional rail project, linking Saigon and Mỹ Tho, began in the same year, to be completed any minute at this time afterwards in 1885. The Saigon–Mỹ Tho line reduced travel time between the two cities from 12 hours to only 3 hours,and established a connection between Saigon and the shipping lanes of the Mekong Delta. The initial railway in Tonkin, a 600 mm (1 ft 11 5⁄8 in) gauge line connecting Lạng Sơn to Phu Lang Thuong (presently known as Bắc Giang), was established in 1895.

Railway construction multiplied during the government of Paul Doumer as Governor-General of French Indochina from 1897 to 1902. Doumer's predecessor, Jean Marie de Lanessan, had been convinced of the necessity of building railways to connect the different parts of Indochina, and had identified certain key routes that should be built as a matter of priority; part these, a route connecting Hanoi and Saigon, and an extra connecting Hanoi and Lào Cai.[18] In 1897, Doumer submitted an overarching proposition for railway development in Indochina, inclunding plans for what would from presently on become the Yunnan–Vietnam Railway and the North–South Railway.

The French government approved the construction of all Yunnan line and several sections of the North–South line, approving a loan of 200 million francs within the following year. Work began swiftly thereafter, with the Phu Lang Thuong—Lạng Sơn line being upgraded and extended from Hanoi to the Chinese border at Dong Dang. The section between Gia Lâm and Đồng Đăng was inaugurated in July 1900[19] but completion of gauge conversion of the remaining section and the initial section of the Yunnan line between Hanoi and Haiphong were not completed until 1902.

The Hanoi–Haiphong railway was one leg of the Yunnan–Vietnam Railway, which had begun construction in 1900, and continued northward with the erection of Paul Doumer Bridge (presently known as Long Bien Bridge) in 1902, the major bridge in Southeast Asia at that time.Construction on the Yunnan line continued northwestward towards the border town of Lào Cai, opening in segments beginning in 1903; all Hanoi–Lào Cai line was finally opened in 1906. Finally, in 1910, the line was extended to its final destination of Kunming.Construction of the Yunnan line was an extremely difficult undertaking, incurring not only great expenditures but as well a great loss of human life. At least 12,000 labourers died from malaria or accidents, 10,000 of these in the Nanxi River Valley alone.

Construction of the North–South Railway began in 1899, and lasted over thirty years, with individual sections completed serially: from 1899 to 1905, the Hanoi–Vinh section was laid down, followed by the Nha Trang–Saigon section from 1905 to 1913, again the Vinh–Huế section from 1913 to 1927, and finally, the remaining Huế–Nha Trang section from 1930 to 1936. On 2 October 1936, all 1,726 km (1,072 mi) Hanoi–Saigon link was formally put into full operation. The initial journeys from end to end of the newly completed line, dubbed the Transindochinois, generally took about 60 hours, or two days and three nights.This decreased to about 40 hours by the late 1930s, with trains travelling at an average speed of 43 km/h (27 mph).

Network

The Vietnamese railway network has a total length of 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi), dominated by the North-South line running between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City; as of 2007, 85% of the network's passenger volume and 60% of its cargo volume was transported along this line. There were 278 stations on the Vietnamese railway network as of 2005, 191 of which were located along the North-South line.

Several railway lines have been proposed for construction in Vietnam in recent years. The major such project is the high-speed North–South Express Railway connecting Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City, (see High-speed rail, below) valued at approximately US$56 billion. Due to its cost, plans for the line are currently on hold pending further study of the project.[39] Other projects involve the restoration of before existing lines, such as the Da Lat–Tháp Chàm and Ho Chi Minh City–Loc Ninh lines, both of which were originally built in the 1930s, but fell into disuse next decades of war. The proposed Ho Chi Minh City–Loc Ninh and Mụ Giạ–Vung Ang lines (both of which had either existed or been considered before World War II) would establish Vietnam's initial international railway links to Cambodia and Laos, respectively.

International railway links

People's Republic of China

Two railways connect Vietnam to the People's Republic of China: the western Yunnan–Vietnam Railway, from Haiphong to Kunming, and the eastern railway from Hanoi to Nanning. The railway into Yunnan is a metre gauge line, the only such line to operate inside China; it may, however, be converted to standard gauge. Railway service along the Chinese portion of the route is currently suspended. Cross-border service was available until 2002, at the same time as floods and landslides, which frequently caused delays along the route, caused critical damage to the tracks on the Chinese side.Railway access to Nanning is done through the border at Đồng Đăng, in Lạng Sơn Province. Regular service generally entails stopping at the border, changing from a Vietnamese metre-gauge train to a Chinese standard-gauge train, and continuing on to Nanning.

The Yunnan–Vietnam Railway will form the Chinese part of the Singapore-Kunming Rail Link, which is expected to be completed in 2015

Cambodia and Laos

There are currently no railway connections between Vietnam and Cambodia or Laos. As part of plans established by ASEAN, however, two new railways are under development: one branch connecting Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and one connecting the North–South Railway to Thakhek in Laos.

The Vietnamese portion of the Phnom Penh railway would begin with a junction of the North–South Railway at Dĩ An Railway Station, and would end in Lộc Ninh, Bình Phước Province, close to the Cambodian border, linking up with a similar project on the Cambodian side. According to the plan established by ASEAN, this stretch is scheduled for completion by 2020; it will form part of the Singapore–Kunming Rail Link project, overseen by the ASEAN–Mekong Basin Development Cooperation (AMBDC).

The proposed railway into Laos would run between Vung Ang, a port in Hà Tĩnh Province, to connect with the North–South Railway at Tân Ấp Railway Station in Quảng Bình Province, again crossing through the Mụ Giạ Pass towards Thakhek. According to plans established by ASEAN, the line may again be extended via Thakhek all the way to the Laotian capital Vientiane. Both Laos and Thailand have expressed interest in the project as a shorter export gateway to the Pacific Ocean.

High-speed rail

National railway company Vietnam Railways has proposed a high-speed rail link between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, capable of running at speeds of 300 km/h (186 mph). Once completed, the high-speed rail line—using Japanese Shinkansen technology—would allow trains to complete the Hanoi–Ho Chi Minh City journey in less than six hours, compared to around 30 hours taken on the existing railway.

Vietnamese prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung had originally set an ambitious target, approving a 1,630 km (1,010 mi) line to be completed by 2013, with 70 % of funding (initially estimated at US$33 billion) coming from Japanese ODA, and the remaining 30 % raised through loans. Later reports raised estimated costs to US$56 billion (almost 60 % of Vietnam's GDP in 2009) for a completion date in the mid-2030s. On June 19, 2010, next a month of deliberation, Vietnam's National Assembly rejected the high speed rail proposition due to its high cost; National Assembly deputies had asked for further study of the project.

Highways

Vietnam's road system includes: national roads (quốc lộ) administered by the central government (marked by red and white milestones); provincial roads (tỉnh lộ or đường tỉnh) managed by provinces (blue and white); district roads (huyện lộ or đường huyện) managed by districts (green and white); urban roads managed by cities and towns; and commune roads managed by communes. The total length of the Viet Nam road system is about 222,179 km with 19.0% paved, mainly national roads and provincial roads (source: Vietnam Road Government, 2004). The national road system length is 17,295 km with 27.6% of its length paved. The provincial road system is 27,762 km of length with 23.6% paved.

Road finance comes from a number of sources inclunding the government, overseas donors such as the ADB, WB, JBIC and business organizations. Road investment recovery is mainly through tolls collected on bridges and roads, in accordance with laws mentioned above.

Expressways

Expressway is rather a new concept for Vietnamese, traffic is growing rapidly but the major roads are dangerous due to inappropriate design and an inappropriate traffic mix. Expressways would solve these problems along the key corridors, by separating high speed traffic from slower, local traffic.

Viet Nam currently recognizes two classes of expressway. Both have a minimum of two lanes in each direction, but Class A has grade separated interchanges, while Class B has at-grade intersections. There are 4 design-speed categories: 60, 80, 100 and 120 km/h. Generally all cars, buses and trucks are permitted on the expressway but cong nong and motorcycles of less than 70 cc engine capacity are not.

List of expressways:

Hanoi - Hai Phong. Length: 96 km.
Hanoi - Ninh Binh. Length: 79 km.
Hanoi - Thai Nguyen. Length: 61 km.
Hanoi - Bac Ninh. Length: 39 km.
Hanoi - Dai Lo. Length: 31 km.
Hanoi - Hanoi International Airport. Length: 35 km.
Bac Ninh - Lao Cai. Length: 279 km.
Lien Khuong - Prenn. Length: 18 km.
Ho Chi Minh City - Long Khanh. Length: 45 km.
Ho Chi Minh City - My Tho. Length: 75 km.

Pipelines

In April 1995, a 125-kilometer natural gas pipeline connecting Bach Ho with a power plant near Vũng Tàu went into operation. With the subsequent addition of compressors, the volume pumped rose to additional than 1 billion cubic meters per year. In 2005 a 399-kilometer underwater pipeline, the world's longest, began to carry natural gas onshore from the Nam Con Son basin. The pipeline's anticipated capacity is 2 billion cubic meters per year, while the basin has an estimated 59 billion cubic meters of natural gas reserves.Vietnam has 28 km of condensate pipeline, 10 km of condensate/gas pipeline, 216 of natural gas line, and 206 km of pipeline for refined products.

Ports and harbors

Cam Ranh - large deep water port and used by Marco Polo during his voyages to China; formerly a major military facility for the U.S. Army and US Navy during the 1960s; later used by the Soviet Navy and the Vietnamese Navy

Da Nang - Tien Sa seaport is the third major sea port in Vietnam next Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong; handles 3-4 million tons of cargo annually
Hai Phong
Ho Chi Minh City - a major port facility with several locations inclunding Saigon port
Hong Gai
Qui Nhơn
Nha Trang

Vietnam has 17,702 km of waterways; 5,000 km of which are navigable by vessels up to 1.8 m draft.

Merchant marine

total: 579 ships (1,000 GRT or over)

ships by type: barge 1, bulk 142, cargo 335, chemical tanker 23, container 19, liquified gas 7, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 48, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 1, specialized tanker 1

registered in other nations: 86 (Cambodia 1, Kiribati 2, Mongolia 33, Panama 43, Taiwan 1, Tuvalu 6) (2010)

Airports

Vietnam operates 37 civil airports, inclunding three international gateways: Noi Bai serving Hanoi, Da Nang serving Da Nang City, and Tan Son Nhat serving Ho Chi Minh City. Tan Son Nhat is the major, handling 75 % of international passenger traffic. Vietnam Airlines, the national airline, has a fleet of 30 aircraft that link Vietnam with 19 foreign cities. In 2004 Vietnam Airlines had 5 million passengers, up 25 % from the prior year, and management expects the number of passengers to reach 12 million by 2010. In November 2004, Vietnam Airlines announced that it would purchase 10 Airbus A321–200 aircraft and continue negotiations for four Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" aircraft. Vietnam Airlines’ goal is to expand its fleet to 73 aircraft by 2010. Beginning in 2006, Vietnam Airlines will cooperate with American Airlines in international flights under a codeshare agreement. Vietnam Airlines’ code will apply to American Airlines flights from the United States to Vietnam, Japan, and Europe. American Airlines’ code will apply to Vietnam Airlines flights from Vietnam to Japan and Europe.

Airports with civil service

Total : 37
Airports with runways over 3,047 m : 9
Airports with runways from 2,438 to 3,047 m :6
Airports with runways from 1,524 to 2,437 m :13
Airports with runways from 914 to 1,523 m :9

Heliports

Total: 1