Blue Sky · Technical Service EngineerDec 31
At first, China was very interested in Vietnam’s ‘North-South High-Speed Rail’ project, but many things happened along the way, causing Chinese companies to have concerns and be unwilling to invest further.
In 2011, China Railway Sixth Group undertook the Hanoi Jileng – Ha Dong Light Rail Project. It was originally planned to be completed in 3-4 years, but upon the completion of the project, the Vietnamese side demanded an additional 50 million USD from the Chinese side as a ‘service testing fee.’ When the Chinese side refused, the Vietnamese side withheld the final payment. In order to avoid settling the final payment, the Vietnamese side hired the French consulting company ACT to assess the entire plant. The results showed that the project met quality standards. Ultimately, after the construction period was extended to 10 years, the project was only completed for acceptance and final payment settlement in 2021, and the disputed 50 million USD was never paid.
From 2002 to 2010, Vietnam held negotiations with Japan and South Korea. Japan promised to provide ODA assistance and transfer some Shinkansen technology, while South Korea, even though it couldn’t offer ODA loans, committed to technology transfer, staff training, and helping set up production lines in Vietnam. Between 2023 and 2025, Vietnam also reached out to Germany and China. So basically, there’s no technical barrier to Vietnam building a North-South high-speed railway.
Actually, I personally think that the biggest reason preventing the Vietnamese government from committing to building a north-south high-speed rail is that it’s ‘not profitable.’ The cost of building and operating high-speed rail is just too high. China built a 140km high-speed rail in Indonesia, and the ticket price was about 20 USD, which is really expensive for most Indonesians. Plus, many people believe that this high-speed rail has trapped the local government in a ‘debt trap.’
If you’re just transporting goods, regular rail or shipping would do the job just fine. Vietnam’s budget airlines are really developed—VietJet Air and Bamboo Airways have super cheap Ho Chi Minh-Hanoi flights (as low as around 40 USD, and the highest is still only about 100 USD). Flights are cheaper and faster, so a high-speed rail doesn’t seem all that important.
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