Modernizing national road

(Vietnam Logistics Review) A national transport system is a synthesis and combination of the nation transport models. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages as well. In the article, we would like to mention some matters of our railway transport.

RAILWAY IN THE TRANSPORT SYSTEM OF VIETNAM

Railway has always been a spine for many transport systems and for that of Vietnam’s as well. Railway is able to carry large amount of cargo; however, the role of our railway has been lesser: it carries less than 1% of the total cargo of our country. And “why are the reasons?” is a question for management experts to ponder.

According to data from the General Statistics Office, in railway market share, there have been decreases in passenger transport through years (1.6% in 1995, 0.4% in 2013) and in cargo transport (3.2% in 2995, 0.6% in 2013)

It is due to some main reasons:

1. The economy development take places in most provinces, which also leads to the need for cargo transport to various places in the country. However, there are many areas without railroad. For example, provinces in the South Western have waterway, road and airway transport only; or the Central Highlands has road and airway cargo only… Can Tho, an economic center in the Mekong Delta, just has orientation to build railroad connecting to HCMC, or the project of railroad from Bien Hoa- Vung Tau has just been an intention for years…

2. Existing railroad cannot connecting to seaports, even ports in Saigon or Cai Mep- Thi Vai Port Group.

3. Many industrial parks have developed without access of railroad, like those in HCMC, Long An, Can Tho, BR-VT…

4. Using containers for cargo transport has been popular; however, railroad container transport has been rare.

5. Investments and management means of transport have revealed inadequacies, especially deployment and managements of empty cars (car logistics).

6. The change in organization and management in market economic direction in the railroad sector has been slower than in other sectors. The decision of socialization in railway transport came many years later than in other transport sectors.

If there are no investments in the railway sector, our transport system will be seriously imbalanced, which will lead to the overloading in road system, long-hour transport, and damages to roads…

Passenger transport has been received much attention for a long time. That is a positive move. But it will be badly affect by the development of cheap airlines. This is also the common trend worldwide, even high-speed railway in Japan has had received pressure from cheap airlines.

But cargo transport has not been received much attention for years.

RAILROAD MODERNIZATION

It is time to develop the railroad system to increase its function in economic- social- defense development of the country. This should be carried out in two directions:

(1)- Building and expanding infrastructure- Railroad network in the South:

- Lengthening and connecting existing railroad system to large economic zones, especially the South Western- Mekong Delta and the South Eastern –BR-VT.

- Railroad cannot attract cargo if they do not directly connect to ports, industrial parks, mines and factories. Existing large ports like Phu My- Thi Vai- Cai Mep, Saigon- Hiep Phuoc have no connecting railroad and have to transport cargo in and out the ports by road and river-way transport, which leads to low efficiency.

(2)- Developing cargo cars, increasing cargo train management and exploitation skills

- Cargo cars should be invested in various types and in suitable number. Container transport needs cars with suitable size and structure for standard containers (20", 40")… In addition, there are needs for bulk cargo cars…

- Car management and exploitation is an important matter, deciding efficient exploitation. In logistics, 3 types of logistics are mentioned, among which is reusing ones. The application of logistics in management, and deployment of container boxes has been proved to be efficient in maritime worldwide transport. Those for cars are of the same type, so there should be a logistics management system for cars.

(3)- Developing logistics services in stations to shorten cargo transport time, cutting time for procedures and progresses of stevedoring, warehousing, forwarding and transporting…

To build a good effective national transport system, it is necessary to develop and expand a cargo transport system by railway. It will contribute in the development of the country’s economy and will help decrease the overloading situation of road system.

Railroad investment needs an overall planning, requires a large amount of capital investments and long pay-back time. Plans to develop railroad in the South have been mentioned in State’s documents for many years as Strategy to Develop Vietnam Railroad Transport till 2020, vision to 2050, approved by Decision no. 1686/ QĐ- TTg in 20008; Adjustment of Overall Planning to Develop Vietnam Railroad Transport till 2020, vision to 2030, approved by Decision 1436/QĐ- TTg in 2009: or Planning to Develop Transport for the Southern Key Economic Zone till 2020, orientation to 2030, approved by Decision 06/2011/QĐ-TTg in 2011… But they all have not been developed yet.

Is it worth to develop socialization, first from the railway sector, to attract investments from different sources, especially from those who have benefits from the development?