Three types of high-speed North-South passenger trains

According to the North-South high-speed railway project, the route will be newly built with double track, 1,435 mm gauge, design speed of 350 km/h, maximum operating speed of 320 km/h for long-distance trains, maximum speed of 250-280 km/h for short-distance trains. Freight trains run at 120-160 km/h; load capacity of 22.5 tons/axle.

The high-speed railway prioritizes passenger transport on the route and can transport goods at different times when needed. The existing North-South railway line is upgraded to transport goods and containers.

The high-speed railway passes through 20 provinces and cities, each province has at least one passenger station. The average distance between stations is about 67 km, of which the shortest station is located in the Ha Nam - Nam Dinh - Ninh Binh section, with a distance of less than 45 km. With such a distance between stations, the high-speed train schedule is adjusted appropriately to ensure enough distance for acceleration and deceleration sections.

According to the consultant's proposal, the passenger train will operate from 6am to midnight every day. In phase 1, the passenger train will use 8-carriage trains with distributed power technology and a capacity of 610 people per train. In phase 2, the train will use 16-carriage trains with a capacity of 1,220 people.

The operator will arrange two types of trains running across the North - South. The express passenger train (type 1) operates at a maximum speed of 320 km/h and stops at several main stations along the route such as Hanoi, Vinh, Da Nang, Nha Trang, Long Thanh, Thu Thiem. The express train travel time for the entire route is 5 hours and 20 minutes. Of which, the Hanoi - Nghe An section takes 56 minutes, Nha Trang - Ho Chi Minh City takes 71 minutes.

Regular passenger trains include 2A, 2B operating at a maximum speed of 320 km/h, stopping alternately, some trains stop at even stations, some trains stop at odd stations, the total running time is 6 hours 50 minutes. Stopping time at each station is 2 minutes.

In addition to the North-South trains mentioned above, the route will have trains operating on sections (2C) such as: Hanoi - Vinh, Hanoi - Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City - Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City - Da Nang. Train running time depends on the operating distance of each section.

Freight trains only operate when the demand for freight transport exceeds the capacity of the existing North-South railway. Freight trains are operated at a maximum speed of 120-160 km/h, operating at different times than passenger trains (from 0:00 to 06:00), and must not interfere with the maintenance of the rails, overhead transmission equipment and other works.

In the first phase, 2 pairs of express trains and 2 pairs of regular trains will be arranged to run from North to South; in each section, 2 pairs of freight trains will be arranged to operate within the region. In the next phase, the number of pairs of trains in the section will increase to 5 pairs of trains per day and night. The operation of 8-car or 16-car trains will be flexibly changed to suit the demand.

The consulting unit has calculated that the North-South high-speed railway can accommodate about 133.5 million passengers per year for North-South direct trains and about 106.8 million passengers per year for regional passenger trains.

To suit affordability and attract passengers, high-speed rail tickets are divided into three price levels. Expected first-class tickets are 0.187 USD/km (VIP compartment, train stops at few stations); second-class tickets are 0.078 USD/km; third-class tickets are 0.047 USD/km.

Thus, for the Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City route, the first class ticket is expected to cost 7.34 million VND; the second class ticket is 3.05 million VND; the third class ticket is 1.83 million VND. Meanwhile, the ticket price of the Thong Nhat railway is from 0.9 million VND (seat) to 1.5 million VND (sleeper); the bus ticket is 1.1 million VND. This ticket price is not much different from countries with similar conditions to Vietnam or for long railway routes.

According to the pre-feasibility study report, the North-South high-speed railway is about 1,541 km long, of which about 60% is bridge, 10% is tunnel, 30% is on the ground with barriers. The route has 23 passenger stations, 5 freight stations, 5 passenger train depots, 4 freight train depots, 45 infrastructure maintenance facilities and about 28.5 km of line connecting to freight stations to operate freight trains when needed.