Cao Xá Railway Station in Hải Dương Province is proposed to be upgraded for international freight transport. — Photo ktdt.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Commission for Management of State Capital at Enterprises (CMSC) has just sent an official letter to the Ministry of Transport (MoT) on investment in upgrading railway infrastructure at Cao Xá Railway Station in Hải Dương Province.

Specifically, the document recommends that MoT should add the project of upgrading and renovating Cao Xá Railway Station to the medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-25 period.

The ministry was also requested to grant a licence for international freight transport at Cao Xá Station from the first quarter of 2024.

Previously, Việt Nam Railway Corporation proposed to MoT and CMSC to invest in upgrading and renovating railway infrastructure to serve train operations at Cao Xá Station on the Hà Nội-Hải Phòng route, meeting inter-regional and international freight transport demands in two phases.

Total investment in phase 1 is expected to be VNĐ61 billion (US$2.5 million), excluding site clearance costs, from medium-term public investment capital for the 2021-25 period or from the ministry’s capital source which is contributed by enterprises under the MoT's management.

The total investment in phase 2 of the project will be VNĐ234 billion ($9.6 million) from the capital of the Việt Nam Railways Corporation and other legal sources.

Currently, Cao Xá is a class 4 station, located at Km50+870 on the Hà Nội-Hải Phòng rail route, close to major industrial parks of Hải Dương Province such as Đại An, Cẩm Điền, Phúc Điền, Tân Trường, and Ken Mark.

If international freight transport is well organised, goods in Hải Dương Province can be exported to China, Europe, and Central Asia by rail instead of having to transport goods to seaports, and complete import and export procedures in the province.

On the other hand, the shipping time from Việt Nam to the Russian and European markets is shortened by 30 per cent compared to sea transport.

The Việt Nam Railway Corporation said that currently, goods in Hải Dương Province are not directly exported or imported by rail because the stations in the area do not have cargo yards qualified to operate containers.

Therefore, Cao Xá Station needs to be built and renovated according to separate functional zones such as a container yard of over 10,000sq.m surrounded by walls, and areas for import and export goods, and customs supervision. — VNS