Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Transport has asked Hanoi to survey roadsaround the Hanoi railway station project to evaluate the population and trafficdensity, in order to avoid overloading the transport infrastructure nearby.

The request was made after the city’s committee submitted their plans for the HanoiRailway Station to ministries and sectors for opinions.

In a document sent to the Hanoi People’s Committee on the planning of the Hanoirailway station, the ministry agreed with the city on the necessity of aligningthe project with the city’s other transit infrastructure development.

The ministry said that the project has the potential to affect the city’sancient architecture, landscape and urban structure. Therefore, the city mustconsult historical and architectural experts to complete the project.

Hanoi’s infrastructure has come under strain as the city grows. The problem isparticularly acute with regard to transport infrastructure due to the rapidincrease in the number of transport vehicles.

The city’s current plans for the project state that targeted land for traffic infrastructurewas about 25 percent, but did not evaluate whether traffic patterns wouldchange as a result of planned transit development when the rail station pens.

In addition, the project plans have not projected the number of guests enteringor leaving commercial areas within the planned area and do not make full use ofthe underground space of the railway station.

The ministry said that the city needed to carefully review the project’sability to meet transportation demand as the population is expected to increasesignificantly in the future.

The Hanoi Railway Station was the centre of the national railway trans-shipmentand urban railway network. Thus, traffic density in the area could increasesignificantly if the project was combined with commercial centres.

The ministry also requested the city to clarify the sources of capital for theproject.

The State budget would be allocated to invest in the national railway works.Other construction works would be built by local budget and other capitalsources.

Previously, the municipal People’s Committee has consulted the relevantministries and branches for the planning of Hanoi Railway Station andsurrounding areas. Total land area for the project is about 98 hectares with atotal population of 44,000. About 40,300 people would need to be resettled.

Total investment capital was estimated to be about 23.8 trillion VND (1.04billion USD), to be prepared by the city’s Department of Planning andArchitecture in consultation with Japan’s Nikken Sekkei Civil Engineering Ltd(NSC).

On September 28, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked the municipal People’sCommittee to be careful in planning of the project to ensure sustainabledevelopment. 

The project to upgrade the capital’s old railway station and the surroundingareas into a Japanese-style modern urban depot was approved by the municipal People’sCommittee last month. The plan calls for six zones of high-rise buildings ofbetween 40 storeys to 70 storeys for financial and media purposes, a railwaystation, and three areas of low-rise buildings with a park, international tradezone and a new lifestyle zone. -VNA