[2][3] The line would begin in Thanh Trì and end in Thủ Đức, connecting the two most urbanised areas in the country: Hanoi in the North, and Ho Chi Minh City in the South.
[7] In 2010, National Assembly deputy Nguyễn Minh Thuyết reportedly stated that the proposed cost, at the time, was equal to about 50 per cent of the country's gross domestic product, and that ordinary Vietnamese citizens would not be able to afford the high fares.
[10] Senior economist Pham Chi Lan, who described the proposal as "economically unsound", noted that it would not serve the 70% of Vietnamese citizens living in rural areas.
On June 19, 2010, after a month of deliberations, National Assembly of Vietnam (NAV) rejected the current high-speed rail proposal, reportedly due to the US$56 billion cost involved.
[17] At that time, Nguyen Huu Bang, the chairman and CEO of national railway company Vietnam Railways, stated that the government was expected to resubmit the project after new leaders of the Communist Party are selected in 2011, and that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) would likely be asked to examine the feasibility of two priority sections from Hanoi to Vinh and from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang.
After a meeting with the MOT in October 2010, Deputy Prime Minister Hoàng Trung Hải was reported to have authorized the reception of Japanese technical assistance for those two sections.
[17] In March 2013, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) submitted a report to concerned authorities for the development of the project creating a second plan for the North–South express railway.
In September 2016, the Ministry of Transport started updating three feasibility studies, which were submitted by the Japan Consultancy Joint Venture (JCJV), Korea International Cooperation Agency and the JICA in the year 2013.
During October 2016, Hanoi General Export-Import JSC (Geleximco) and Hong Kong United Investors Holding (HUI) have expressed interest in co-developing the project and are waiting for the approval from the Ministry of Transport.
[6] In November 2017, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc announced that the Ministry of Transport's final plan for the express railway system will be completed and submitted to the National Assembly's consideration in 2019.
Vietnam's Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung visited to China to meet Chinese trade and transport officials as well as railway executives.
[25] In June 2024, Vietnam's Minister of Transport, Nguyen Van Thang announced a goal starting construction on the North–South High-Speed Railway, now with a design speed of 350 kilometres per hour (220 mph) before 2030 with a target completion date of 2035.
In this context, Japan and China have increasingly emerged as regional technical and economic competitors, as evidenced by their rivalry for infrastructure projects through funding entities and large-scale technological systems across Southeast Asia as seen in Sino-Japanese competition for developing high-speed rail in Thailand and the recent completion of the Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway, Indonesia's first ever high speed railway, built using Chinese technical assistance.
In Vietnam, the first Ho Chi Minh City Metro is largely backed by funding and expertise from the JICA, as well as Sumitomo Corp. and Shimizu-Maeda, two huge Japanese conglomerates.
The inaugural line of the Hanoi Metro, on the other hand, relies on support and technical expertise from a consortium of Chinese companies headed by the China Railways Sixth Group.
[35] Le Hong Hiep, a research fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute (Singapore) emphasized that while working with Vietnamese partners to make the project more sellable to the Vietnamese public and lawmakers, Japanese companies may also need to keep an eye on their Chinese competitors who benefit from China's large funds available for overseas high-speed rail projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).