Vietnam Railway Speeds up

Vietnam Railway Speeds up

Faced with fierce competition in the cargo and passenger transportation market, the Vietnam Railway Corporation has mobilised all resources to meet the society's demand and has developed its business activities. The Vietnam Railway Corporation is currently in a transitional period, shifting from a 'union' model to a 'corporation' one, and has consequently had to reorganise its staff and perfect its management mechanism in accordance with the existing situation. "This task, if not undertaken cautiously without careful study, may cause negative impacts on the activities of the whole system," said Nguyen Huu Bang, general director of the Vietnam Railway Corporation. Also thanks to suitable adjustments and arrangement, the corporation can maintain a high growth rate in the first half this year.

However, thanks to suitable adjustments and arrangement, the corporation can maintain a high growth rate in the first half this year.

Revenues of the transportation sector reached VND929.8 billion (US$59.223 million), up by 14.6 per cent against that of the same period last year. About 4.245 million tonnes of cargo was transported and loaded, up by 10.2 per cent, while the volume of transported cargo reached 1.378 billion tonnes per kilometre, up by 8.5 per cent. The service also transported 6.051 million passengers, up by 8.5 per cent. Total number of passengers transported reached 2.035 billion passengers kilometres, or an increase of 8.3 per cent.

The total production value of installation and construction enterprises was put at VND295.627 billion (US$18.829 million), an increase of 10.1 per cent on-year. The construction of projects was carried out in a timely manner, meeting the quality requirements. The public works sector has total a production value of VND246.15 billion (US$15.678 million), up by 4.8 per cent. However, production value of the industrial sector was put at VND171.627 billion, equal to 93.5 per cent of that of one year earlier, due to the slow dispersion of capital for building new cars. The corporation will concen trate on providing guidelines for this sector to complete its yearly plan in the final half of the year.

In the first half of the year, the service and tourism sector earned VND350.121 billion (US$22.3 million), equal to 95 per cent of the same period last year. This is an encouraging result as the tourism service is suffering from the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and bird flu. With such a high growth rate, enterprises in the corporation hope to gain good results in the final six months.

The Vietnam railway service has always set a target of 'safety' as its top priority, and it has undertaken many measures to maintain safety in the whole system. Despite many works to upgrade the railways, for example, 40 improvements on the trans-Vietnam route alone, all enterprises have implemented rules properly, ensuring safety of trains.

This year, the railway service has set a priority target of technology renewal as this is an important step for modernisation. Apart from its trains, which operate effectively, the corporation is piloting new technology, namely, 'seamless welded rail-tracks.' This technology is applied for the final 10km section of the Nong Son-Tra Kieu route on the trans-Vietnam route. After collecting and processing technical parameters in accordance with climatic conditions, the corporation will use this technology for many other sections to reduce noise, meeting the future 'acceleration' target. Furthermore, some major projects, including the Hanoi high railway and the upgrading of the Hanoi-Haiphong route, which will begin soon, will receive modern technology for its communication system.

Recently, the Ministry of Transport has submitted to the Government the revised Railway Law in the hope to create a solid legal basis for the railway service to meet criteria of economic development of Vietnam during the international integration process.

• Hoa Ninh - Loc Dien