A train runs across Long Bien Bridge in Hanoi (Source: VNA)The issue was recently brought into sharp focusafter Transport Minister Truong Quang Nghia claimed the booming air transportindustry had "scooped up" all the customers of other modes oftransportation, especially of the railway.
However, the reason that rail use lags behindother forms of transportation in Vietnam has more to do with weakinfrastructure of the rail system, high overhead, expensive fares and loss ofcompetitive edge.
Dao Thanh Nga from Thanh Hoa central provinceworked as an accountant in Hanoi and had to travel regularly to Dong Hoi Cityin Quang Binh central province – her husband’s hometown.
In the past she used the train because of itssafety, given that travel time was the same as road transportation, takingabout 11-12 hours.
“In train stations, direction signs have beenerected, carriage entrances and exits are on the same level as the station,making things easier. (Trains offer) clean beds, helpful staff, nice foodcatering services, and on-time departures and arrival. The whole journey takesnine and a-half hours. Train travel has really improved, shedding its ‘outdated’clothes,” Nga told VietnamPlus e-newspaper.
However, those improvements are not sufficientto keep customers like Nga, who now prefers affordable flights that offer thesame service quality but shorter travel time: flight plus airport procedurestake just under four hours, she said.
“Airlines frequently offer low-cost deals.Sometimes, the total price for a round-trip stands at just about 1 million VND(44.2 USD). Meanwhile, a train ticket with air-con costs around 400,000 VND, anda ticket for a bed and air-con is priced as high as 800,000 VND. A wisecustomer will choose to travel by air,” she said.
According to Doan Duy Hoach, Deputy GeneralDirector of Vietnam Railways (VR), from 2013, passenger transportation viarailways has been in a decline, even on 300 to 500km journeys, which previouslyrail transport dominated.
There are many reasons for this sad state ofaffairs.
Uneven investment
Road transport continues to receive the lion’sshare of state budgets for development, and the allocation for the railwaysystem pales in comparison.
In 10 years, from 2001 to 2010, the total budgetfor transport infrastructure was approximately 160 trillion VND (7 billion USD),88 percent of which went to road transport, while a mere 3 percent was targetedfor rail transport.
The dichotomy persists: in the next five years(2011-2015), nearly 90 percent of the colossal 330 trillion VND budget isreserved for road transport, and 3 percent for rail transport.
Hoach said this was the leading reason that railtransport lags behind other modes of transportation, accounting for a meagre1.14 percent of passengers and 2 percent of transported freight.
According to him, the budget allocation couldonly meet 60 percent of maintenance requirements for existing infrastructure.
Single tracks accounts for 85 percent of thecountry’s railway network – an outdated infrastructure that greatly limitsspeed and capacity, a transport expert said.
“For years, investment for upgrading the railwaysystem has never increased,” Pham Thanh Quang, representative of the VietnamRailway Transport Economy Association, told the Thanh Nien newspaper (YoungPeople).
Meanwhile, Hoach said rail transport stillrelied on a system built during the French colonisation. Even with upgrades andregular maintenance, the 100-year-old infrastructure could not help but showedits age and failed to attract private investors.
“Previously, two foreign investors invested inrailroad operations, but the outdated infrastructure rendered their businessesfutile. Even with five-star trains, their projects fell through,” he added.
He also admitted the main advantage of railtransport, namely safety on long-distance travel, could not make up for theinconvenience that customers had to endure.
Competition
For the time being, rail transport firms have nochoice but to compete by providing better services.
VR is implementing renovation projects onexisting lines. This includes the trans-Vietnam route which is being upgradedto allow 19-20 pairs of trains to operate per night, reduce travel time fromover 30 hours to 26-28 hours; upgrade train stations, coaches and online ticketsales; and strive for on-time arrival and departure (95 percent on-time trips).
Train tickets are also on average cheaper thanfares of other transport modes, especially air transport, but might be 5-15percent higher than road transport, depending on the journey.
“The aim of rail transportation is to cut backon costs, and then lower transport fares down to a level comparable to that ofroad transport,” Hoach said.
Nguyen Ngoc Dong, Deputy Minister of Transport,said that the government must assume a ‘pivotal role’ in railway infrastructureinvestment.
The Ministry of Transport has submitted to theGovernment an investment plan for a north-south railroad that would enabletravel at 160-200km/h on a 1.345m double-track to accommodate both freight andpassenger transport.
“If we want rail transport to develop, thecapital investment structure must be adjusted with a priority for railroad, butthis adjustment requires time,” Dong said.
Back in September, Dong told a session of theNational Assembly’s Standing Committee discussing the adjustments to theAmended Law on Railway, that if the law was amended, "the State’s rolewill be managing infrastructure while train services will be ceded to privatebusinesses.”
“In 2017, when transport companies areequitised, business activities are expected to be more robust and proactive togain back the lost costumers in an increasingly competitive market,” Hoach saidfirmly. – VNA
VNA
