Despite having a large transport capacity, the railway industry lacks warehouse infrastructure and equipment for loading and unloading containers onto ships for cross-border transportation.
Despite having a large transport capacity, the railway industry lacks warehouse infrastructure and equipment for loading and unloading containers onto ships for cross-border transportation.
At the meeting of the Ministry of Transport on December 29, Mr. Dang Sy Manh, General Director of Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR) said that stations on the North - South route all have warehouse, yard and road infrastructure. Degraded throttle. In addition, the transport capacity is also limited, there is no container loading and unloading equipment, which causes many difficulties in attracting container trucks to be transported from the South, as well as exported to China by rail.
Mr. Manh said, goods traveling by railway through the border gates are mainly ores, sulfur, DAP, chemicals, electronic goods, textiles, accessories, consumer goods... All of these types are available. goods are imported and exported through official channels, goods exported by unofficial channels cannot be transported by railway.
However, in 2021, international rail freight transport will increase by 34% in volume over the same period. In which, goods through Dong Dang station (Lang Son) increased by 82%. In particular, in the fourth quarter, import and export goods via railway increased sharply compared to the same period last year, Dong Dang station increased by 117% in the number of carriages passing.
Direct trains from Vietnam to Europe brought international container shipping volume up more than 100% over the same period last year, prompting the industry to open more specialized container trains to Chinese cities. .
However, the volume of goods has grown continuously over the years, so up to this point, there has been a phenomenon of congestion at the border gates and at stations deep in the interior of both countries. There are more than 600 Chinese wagons waiting to go to Vietnam. The stations around Hanoi are already overloaded due to the current capacity of the yard not to meet the demand.
To overcome these difficulties, the Vietnam Railways Corporation proposed solutions such as urgently preparing infrastructure, increasing the capacity of loading and unloading cargo yards at stations such as: Kep, Dong Anh, Yen Vien to improve capacity. cargo and container capacity to relieve congestion at Dong Dang and Lao Cai stations.
VNR also proposed the Ministry of Transport to report to the Government to work with the Chinese side to allow quarantine activities at Bang Tuong station to receive agricultural products and fruits from Vietnam by rail. Along with that, it is recommended that the General Department of Customs arrange staff and overtime to handle procedures for import and export goods by rail.
According to Transport Minister Nguyen Van The, road border gates are currently congested, while goods passing through border railway stations are still smooth, showing the advantages of rail transport. Not only cross-border goods, goods to Europe by rail are also shorter than by sea, and the cost is 50% lower. Therefore, it is necessary to remove difficulties and promote freight transport from the South, as well as goods exported to Europe by rail.
The Minister requested VNR to review and identify a number of existing stations that have land fund or can be expanded and upgraded to become a collection point for goods by road, from which to transport by train and propose an investment mechanism. private.
Along with that, VNR studies to open new stations on routes near industrial parks, convenient for connecting roads, not having problems with ground clearance to serve as stations for gathering and transshipment of goods; propose an investment mechanism, maybe the Corporation can invest 100% by itself, or a joint venture to call for capital. The Minister asked VNR to review and identify a number of existing stations that still have land funds or can be expanded or upgraded. providing warehouses to gather goods by road, then transport them by ship and propose an investment mechanism.
Along with that, VNR studies to open new stations on routes near industrial parks, convenient for connecting roads, not having problems with ground clearance to serve as stations for gathering and transshipment of goods; propose an investment mechanism, which can be 100% self-invested by the Corporation, or a joint venture to call for capital.
For rail transport to Europe, the Minister asked the Vietnam Railways Corporation to propose which stations can open new international intermodal terminals and what needs to be invested in to transport containers and goods from the South. from ships of 1,000mm gauge to ships of 1,435mm gauge.
The Minister also noted that research units should promote the connection of railway infrastructure connecting with Laos and China, especially the railway connecting Laos with the existing North-South railway to promote the exploitation of transit goods. from this country.
Cargo congestion at Lang Son border gates has been going on for a month now. The Government has requested ministries, sectors and localities with border gates to work and hold talks with the Chinese side to facilitate customs clearance of goods, especially imported goods for domestic production and trucks. , the container is currently congested.
ST
