Vehicles on Mai Sơn - National Highway 45 Expressway. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has reported significant growth in infrastructure transport sectors, over land and water.

For the first half of this year, MoT has accelerated key national transportation projects, contributing to robust growth in many transport sectors.

It has made operational numerous North-South Expressway projects, bringing the total length of expressways nation-wide to over 2,000km.

This expansion has fed into overall numbers with the ministry saying that all five transport sectors, roads, railways, airports, sea ports and inland waterways, saw growth.

There has been significant progress in expressway construction, railway projects and aviation and maritime transport.

Uông Việt Dũng, the ministry's Chief of Office, speaking during a conference evaluating the ministry's performance for the first six months earlier this week, that seven road projects were commenced in the first half of the year including Rạch Sỏi-Bến Nhất, Gò Quao-Vĩnh Thuận, upgrading National Highway 28B through Bình Thuận and Lâm Đồng provinces, the Đông Hà city bypass in Quảng Trị Province, upgrading the Cao Lãnh-Lộ Tẻ route, upgrading a section of National Highway 4B in Lạng Sơn Province, upgrading the Lộ Tẻ-Rạch Sỏi route, and Chợ Chu-Trung Sơn intersection.

Two components of the Hồ Chí Minh Road project, when completed, will connect the entire route from Cao Bằng to Mũi Cà Mau by 2025, Dũng said. A railway project to upgrade the Khe Nét pass area is also underway.

The ministry aims to complete some sections of the 2021-2025 North-South Expressway from Quảng Ngãi province to Khánh Hòa province ahead of schedule by three to six months.

Four projects were completed including two public-private partnership (PPP) expressway projects of Cam Lâm-Vĩnh Hảo and Diễn Châu-Bãi Vọt, which since June 30 have been open.

"The Ministry of Transport has operationalised all 11 components of the 2017-2020 North-South expressway, totalling 653km,” Dũng said.

“This connects and reduces travel time from Hà Nội to Nghệ An Province’s Vinh city and from Hồ Chí Minh City to Nha Trang City, raising the total expressway length to over 2,000km."

In railways, six projects are in the process of being made active, with the ministry approving and selecting contractors for an ODA project and a project using 2022 savings.

Two urban railway projects in Hà Nội and HCM City are progressing, with the Nhổn-Hà Nội Station line expected to be operational in July and the Bến Thành-Suối Tiên line in December.

The ministry has tasked the Railway Project Management Unit with preparing feasibility reports for the Hà Nội-Lào Cai-Hải Phòng, Eastern Hà Nội Ring Road, HCM City-Cần Thơ, and Biên Hòa-Vũng Tàu-Thủ Thiêm-Long Thành railway projects, and revising the feasibility report for the Yên Viên-Phả Lại-Hạ Long-Cái Lân project.

Investors have been requested to prepare pre-feasibility reports for the Vũng Áng-Mụ Giạ project.

In aviation, Long Thành International Airport's package 5.10 is ahead of schedule and the T3 passenger terminal at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport is on track to be completed three months early.

In maritime transport, the projects of upgrading the Cái Mép-Thị Vải channel and ports in southern Nghi Sơn of Thanh Hóa Province are on schedule.

Preparations are underway for the Quy Nhơn channel upgrade and the southern waterway and logistics corridor development project.

In the meeting, Dũng reported that all five transport sectors saw growth compared to the same period last year.

In aviation, the ministry has required airlines to adjust and increase take-off and landing slots at some airports during peak hours, stabilise airfares and expand direct flights between Việt Nam and other countries and territories.

In the first six months, passenger volume reached 38.1 million, up 6.7 per cent and cargo volume reached 599,000 tonnes, up 22 per cent.

In maritime transport, the ministry has been talking to about 300 businesses to boost the sector, support shipping companies and enforce price management at seaports.

Cargo volume through seaports in the first half reached 427.645 million tonnes, increasing by 18 per cent, with container cargo at 14.399 million TEUs, up 22 per cent.

In inland waterways, cargo volume reached over 258 million tonnes, up 10.4 per cent and passenger volume reached 189 million, rising by 10.9 per cent.

The ministry has implemented upgrades, cut procedures, reduced taxes and fees and simplified administrative processes to support waterway transport and businesses.

A new route connecting industrial zones and inland container depots (ICDs) to Hải Phòng and Quảng Ninh ports is expected to reduce 30km of travel, save three hours in time travelling and lower logistics costs.

On the railways, the Ministry has upgraded two stations of Sóng Thần and Cao Xá in Bình Dương province and Hải Dương province, respectively, to international freight stations, activated more quality trains and integrated IT into ticket sales leading to a 114 per cent increase in cargo volume and a 112 per cent increase in passenger volume compared to the same period in 2023. — VNS