HCMC – Vietnam Railways has written to the Ministry of Transport proposing renovating and reinforcing the railway section across Hai Van Pass to ensure safety and enhance the effectiveness of the North-South railway.

Recent storms and heavy rains have caused landslides and destroyed the infrastructure of the railway in this area which had initially deteriorated and had yet to be adequately invested in, leading to the unsafety of the train operation.

Representatives of the Ministry of Transport and relevant agencies conducted an on-site inspection on November 1 to evaluate the current status of the railway infrastructure section across Hai Van Pass.

After the inspection, 20 landslide positions on the railway were found, causing serious damage to the infrastructure and risks to railway operations if they are not fixed in time.

Vietnam Railways, via the Ministry of Transport, requested the Prime Minister to allocate VND1,332 billion from the State budget for fixing and renovating this railway section.

The renovation will include reinforcing the talus of sections vulnerable to landslides, renovating railways and bridges and upgrading three tunnels.

The railway section across Hai Van Pass on the Hanoi-HCMC route is 20 kilometers long, with one side being a mountain and the other being a deep abyss. This is one of the important sections of the entire railway system but also a capacity constraint on the North-South route, as the train is normally operated at a very low speed of 5-15 kilometers per hour to ensure safety.