HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister Trần Hồng Hà asked ministries and localities to speed up land clearance and relocation works in the North-South high-speed rail line project during a hybrid conference on the land clearance plan for the railway project on Monday.

The Deputy PM assigned the Ministry of Construction to work with each locality the railway passes through to review the project site, particularly the sections that run through core natural forest areas, cultural heritage sites, defence-security zones, or densely populated residential areas.

Meanwhile, localities must proactively assess needs and accurately determine the affected land area and houses to develop specific relocation plans.

Besides, the Ministry of Construction needs to coordinate with the Ministry of Justice to soon complete the Government's Resolution, removing obstacles in planning arising after the merger of provincial-level administrative units.

Regarding financial resources, Hà affirmed that the site clearance and resettlement to serve the North-South high-speed railway project is an independent project, using the central budget. The Ministry of Finance must have specific instructions to 15 relevant provinces and cities for implementation.

Each province must establish a provincial steering committee and a support team to directly manage the project implementation, he added.

Hà also noted that, along with the Government adjusting the master plan, localities must simultaneously adjust provincial planning, zoning, and detailed planning around stations to optimise traffic, trade, and service connections, creating space for modern, multi-layered, and integrated urban development.

According to the Deputy Minister of Construction Bùi Xuân Dũng, the North-South high-speed railway has a length of 1,541 km, starting at Ngọc Hồi station in Hà Nội and ending at Thủ Thiêm station in HCM City. It passes through 15 provinces and cities after the provincial mergers. It has 23 stations, including five freight stations. Under the preliminary land use plan, the project requires an area of about 10,827 hectares, and 120,836 households are expected to move to make room for the railway.

In late April, the Government assigned the Ministry of Construction to review and hand over preliminary design documents and site clearance boundaries for localities to develop plans, implement resettlement and compensation. To date, the ministry handed over documents to all projected localities.

Localities the railway passes through must urgently develop detailed plans, proactively allocate local budget funds to carry out site clearance work and establish a site clearance steering committee before July 1.

As of June 12, the People's Committees of provinces and cities had assigned specific tasks to units in charge of site clearance. However, only Ninh Binh province had established its steering committee, and five localities, namely Vĩnh Phúc, Phú Yên, Hà Tĩnh, Thanh Hóa and Ninh Bình provinces had completed a preliminary review of resettlement need, and Huế City had made an implementation plan.

Under the plan, localities are required to complete basic compensation and resettlement work before December 2026 to hand over the site to contractors.

Vietnam Electricity (EVN) is responsible for relocating 110kV or higher power facilities, with completion required before December 2026. — VNS