I have no political bias regarding the Vietnam North-South High-Speed Rail project; my analysis and research are based solely on data.
1. Total investment: US$67 billion.
The Vietnam North-South High-Speed Rail project has a very high proportion of bridges and tunnels. According to Vietnam's plan, bridges account for 60% and tunnels 10%. This results in extremely high construction costs.
However, compared to similar high-speed rail lines in China with a similar proportion of bridges and tunnels, the cost is still 2-3 times higher than in China.
The biggest cost difference in the Vietnam North-South High-Speed Rail project is not in the engineering and construction itself, but in land costs. Vietnam has a private land ownership system, and compensation negotiations will be very difficult, leading to extremely high land premiums. This aspect requires government intervention. Private companies or foreign investors simply have no way to solve this problem.
2. Operating cost assessment (including only the direct costs of daily operations, excluding indirect expenses such as return on investment and loan interest rates).
Vingroup's estimated cost is $4.2 billion per year, equivalent to approximately $27 million per year per kilometer.
This estimated figure is severely underestimated. The operating cost of China's Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway is approximately $38 million per year per kilometer. The difference between the two figures is enormous. (The operating costs of Japanese high-speed rail are comparable to those of China, while the operating costs of European high-speed rail are significantly higher than those of China.)
3. Revenue Assessment.
Vingroup's estimate is approximately $5.6 billion in annual ticket sales.
Given Vietnam's population mobility and economic capacity, achieving this level of ticket revenue is almost impossible.
Much of the data lacks scientific analysis. Therefore, people are questioning the motives behind it.