HCM City-Can Tho rail route to wrap up in 2020

HCM City (VNA) - A new railway line linking Ho Chi Minh City and the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Can Tho will become
operational in 2020, under a major project initiated by the Ministry of Transport.

The rail route will be 150-200 km long, and could be a direct link with no
stop in between, as suggested by the Southern Transport Research and
Development Centre.

The centre has also called for an early announcement about site clearance
for the railway, so residents will have enough time to prepare for
resettlement.

The railroad is part of a plan to develop multiple links between HCM
City and Can Tho, including roads and waterways.

Road links envisaged by the plan will have Highway 1A and a new expressway
linking the city and the province by 2010.

Many wasterway routes connecting HCM City with the southernmost
province of Ca Mau , Kien Giang province's Kien Luong district and Long
An province's Moc Hoa district are also expected to open in 2010.

Planners are hopping the opening of several routes by road, water and rail
between the city and the Mekong Delta province's will help develop
transportation in the region, ease traffic congestion and promote commerce.

They expect that by 2020, transportation of goods by waterways will
account for 50 percent, by roads, 35 percent and by railway, 15 percent.

Passengers using road routes will make up 63 percent, and those using the
railway and waterways will account for 30 percent and 7 percent
respectively.-Enditem