Most funding would come from Japan and the first step was taken when Vietnamese railway authorities and Japanese railway experts got together at a workshop to speak about what it might take for a project of this size to come to pass.

Now that the workshop has been completed, the next step is a land survey to take a close look at the terrain that this speeding train would have to safely traverse over. The surveyors are expected to find the best route starting in June.

Ten hours from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City

The north-south railway line was one of three projects discussed by Vietnamese and Japanese officials in Japan in October 2006. The Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc said this railway line is getting a lot of attention from both governments and that it is expected to speed up rail transportation in Vietnam.

Nguyen Huu Bang, the general director of Vietnam Railways, said that the railway line between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, also aims to connect those places in between, but there will be number of stops for a high-speed train. It is designed to connect two economic centers - at opposite ends of the country - which contribute 90 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP).

It's thought today that such a railway would cost US$33 billion. With a length of 1,630km, that would be US$20 million per kilometer. The Vietnamese Government says that it could afford to build the railway bed and lay the rail, which would be 70 percent of the cost (US$23 billion), and the companies would buy the high-speed train, costing about US$10 billion.

The railway line would have to be built to the same standards as those of the Shikansen high-speed railway line in Japan, standards which are also in use in several other countries. The rails would be set 1.435m apart and the train would travel at a speed of 200-300km per hour and take 10 hours between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Minister Vo Hong Phuc said that the Vietnamese Government will actually be borrowing most of its share of the expense in the form of an official development assistance (ODA) loan from Japan while an attempt will also be made to obtain capital from other assistance sources and private companies.

The railway line is to start in Hanoi and go south running parallel to an existing rail line and National Highway 1A to the town of Phu Ly. There it will begin to follow a course different from the existing rail line. It will go south along the border between Ninh Binh and Nam Dinh provinces until it meets the existing Thong Nhat railway. There it will change direction and run parallel to that railway (and National Highway 1A) passing through Thanh Hoa and proceeding to Vinh. From Vinh, it will run along a newly created railway bed to Dong Hoi and on to Hue. The train will pass through the Hai Van Tunnel and, south of that, through what will be the 5km Ca Pass Tunnel in Hao Son. From there the railway will go west along an existing railway to Nha Trang, then to Binh Thuan and Bien Hoa-Di An, making its last stop in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Japanese are very experienced at building high-speed railway line and, under Japanese supervision, Vietnamese laborers will build 51 stations. The railway line is to be 1,630km long, but the planners say that the stations will be 30-35km apart. The train itself will consist of 10-15 railway cars pulled by a 15,000kW locomotive.

Japanese experts say that building this railway line will be easier than it was in Japan in 1957-1958, because the terrain is not as difficult and they've had a lot of experience since then. Construction will proceed in a continuous one-direction flow.

"The Prime Minister wants construction to start at both ends at the same time," said Bang. He also said that just to gather the investment capital would take at least two or three years. Japanese and Vietnamese experts will begin to do a basic land route survey in June of this year. Only if and when investment capital is actually available can anyone begin to speak of any kind of actual construction schedule or completion time. If the railway project can get the go-ahead, the work will be done as quickly as possible.

It is possible that Vietnam Railways officials will go to Japan in May to talk about getting Vietnamese railway laborers trained in Japan.

Bang said after the new railway is in use, the Vietnamese Government would like to improve the existing one-meter wide railway so that it can connect with the ASEAN passenger and cargo railway network.