Da Nang revisits railway station relocation plan after 15 years

The central city first brought out the plan to relocate the Da Nang Railway Station westward to Lien Chieu District from the central district of Thanh Khe in 2004. After many discussions, the plan fell through.

The long delay and uncertainty has upset a lot of residents.

"This delay isn't good for the people here. They can't build houses. They can't give their land to their children. We need a concrete solution from the city," resident Huynh Su said at a meeting with Da Nang’s Party chief Truong Quang Nghia on Tuesday.

Nghia said the relocation had been stalled due to the lack of funding. But some investors have expressed interest in the project recently. Therefore, the city plans to revive it and collaborate with the Ministry of Transport to select a new location for the station in 2020.

He said the city now wants to relocate the station to a different place than Lien Chieu because it was no longer a rural district and the station should be at a fair distance from the city center.

The city is considering the options of moving it alongside the country's national railway route or expressway, he said.

In November, the Da Nang administration reported to the Party unit that it would need VND12,000 billion ($518 million) to relocate the train station and redevelop the area through BT (Build-Transfer) projects.

Once the relocation plan and its budge is approved, the project sections would be opened up for bidding by interested investors.