HÀ NỘI  — The Ministry of Transport (MoT) is seeking the Prime Minister’s approval on plans to reorganise toll booths at the Hải Vân tunnel area.

Accordingly, the BOT Bắc Hải Vân toll station will collect fees for both the Cả Pass Tunnel Project, including Hải Vân Pass Tunnel expansion (Hải Vân Tunnel 2) and Phú Gia-Phước Tượng Tunnel Project.

Currently, Bắc Hải Vân toll station collects fees for just the Phú Gia – Phước Tượng BOT tunnel project. The Nam Hải Vân toll station, which has not yet been built, will collect fees for Hải Vân Tunnel 2. It will be just 10km away from the BOT Bắc Hải Vân toll station.

If the station is built, people coming from Đà Nẵng City will have to pay double, including one before entering Hải Vân Tunnel and another one for Phú Gia-Phước Tượng after leaving the tunnel. This will likely upset vehicle owners, affecting security around the toll station.

According to the officials from the Ministry of Transport, the benefit of the plan proposed to Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc is to reduce the number of toll stations. It means that there would be two stations from Huế to Đà Nẵng, namely Phú Bài and Bắc Hải Vân, instead of 3 new toll stations within a distance of about 74km from Huế to Lăng Cô Tourist site and Hải Vân Tunnel. It would also help save the cost of building a new toll station (between VNĐ50-70 billion or US$2.2-3 million).

In the future, the fees at Bắc Hải Vân will be higher than other toll stations on National Highway 1 due to the combination of fees for the two projects. However, the MoT confirmed that because the station is located on the approach road leading to the Hải Vân Pass, people could choose not to use the tunnel if they don’t want to pay fees.

The MoT is coordinating with investors to complete the procedures for adjusting the fee collection plan at Bắc Hải Vân toll station.

According to the transport ministry, the fee at Bắc Hải Vân toll station will be kept unchanged until 2021 in accordance with the signed Phú Gia – Phước Tượng Tunnel BOT contract. After 2021, the fee will be decided based on the conditions and specific financial plans of the projects.

The Cả Pass Tunnel project connects the central provinces of Phú Yên and Khánh Hòa, including Cù Mông Pass Tunnel and Hải Vân Pass Tunnel expansion, with total investment capital of VNĐ26.1 trillion ($1.15 billion). Of the capital, VNĐ21.1 trillion is from a BOT source and the rest is from the State Budget. It has a payback period of 29 years.  — VNS