Vietnam greenlights $84 million upgrade of transnational railroad

It said Monday the work would involve the renovation of 133 bridges and upgrade of the anti-collision system, local media reported.

The railway project management board has submitted a cost estimate for the work, feasibility study and verification and a contractor selection plan to the ministry.

Things are expected to be finalized in October with the work possibly starting in April 2020 and getting completed in 2021.

Funds for the project will be sourced from the contingency budget of the 2016-20 Public Investment Plan approved by the legislative National Assembly.

The railroad network has not seen any major upgrade for 140 years.

Fifty five percent of the country’s 7,200 coaches are equipped with outdated brake systems, while 72 percent of its almost 400 locomotives have high emission levels and are low in terms of efficiency, according to the Vietnam Register.

There are over 3,000 kilometers of railroad tracks, none of them high-speed.

All Vietnamese trains run on diesel whereas Malaysia, Thailand, Korea, Japan, and China have adopted electric locomotives.