Chương II Luật Đường sắt 2017: Kết cấu hạ tầng đường sắt

Chapter II

RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE

Section 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 10. Vietnamese railway system

1. Vietnamese railway system includes national railway, urban railway and specialized railway, to be specific:

a) National railway satisfies the transport demands of the country, each economic region and international transportation;

b) Urban railway satisfies the transport demands of passengers in urban areas and surrounding areas;

c) Specialized railway satisfies the transport demands of each organization or individual.

2. The power to introduce and adjust the railway system:

a) National railway or specialized railway that is connected to the national railway shall be introduced and adjusted by the Minister of Transport; the urban railway that is connected to or shares the national railway shall be introduced and adjusted by the Minister of Transport after the agreement with the President of People’s Committee of the province which the urban railway passes through is reached.

b) Urban railway or specialized railway that is not connected to the national railway shall be introduced or adjusted by the President of People’s Committee of province; in the cases where the urban railway or specialized railway that is not connected to the national railway passes through 02 provinces or more, the Minister of Transport shall introduce and adjustment after receiving comments from the Presidents of People’s Committees of these provinces.

3. The power to name railway lines and stations; to decide inauguration of railway lines and stations; to cease operation and remove lines:

a) The Government shall specify the naming of railway lines and stations and removal of railway lines and stations;

b) The Minister of Transport shall decide inauguration of national railway lines and stations or cease their operation;

c) The President of the provincial People’s Committee shall decide inauguration of urban railway lines and stations or cease their operation;

d) The investor shall decide inauguration of specialized railway lines and stations in which they invested.

Article 11. Railway infrastructure assets

1. Railway infrastructure assets include:

a) Railway infrastructure asset directly serving train operation includes railway works, work items or other auxiliary works directly serving train operation, passenger and cargo loading and unloading;

b) Railway infrastructure asset not directly serving train operation are railway infrastructure assets other than those specified in Point a of this Clause.

2. Responsibility for management of state-invested railway infrastructure assets:

a) The Government shall act as a representative of the owner, perform uniform management of railway infrastructure assets in accordance with regulations of law on management and use of public property;

b) The Ministry of Transport shall perform tasks and exercise powers of the owner’s representative in respect of national railway infrastructure assets;

c) Every provincial People’s Committee shall perform tasks and exercise powers of the representative of the owner in respect of urban railway infrastructure assets;

d) Every railway infrastructure enterprise shall use, operate and protect railway infrastructure assets that are allocated, leased out or transferred by the State in accordance with regulations of law.

3. Organizations and individuals shall manage, use and operation of railway infrastructure assets in which they invested in accordance with regulations of law.

4. The Government shall specify a list of railway infrastructure assets prescribed in Clause 1 of this Law; shall manage and use the State-invested railway infrastructure assets.

Article 12. Land for rail transport

1. Land for rail transport includes:

a) Land for construction of railway works;

b) Land within the safety perimeter of the railway work;

c) Land within the railway safety corridor.

2. Use of land for rail transport shall be specified as follows:

a) Land for rail transport shall be used for construction of railway works and ensure rail transport safety according to the land use plan and planning approved by a competent authority;

b) In the cases where part of the land area for rail transport must be used to construct essential works in service of national defense and security or socio-economic development, such works must not affect the railway work and rail transport safety and must be licensed in accordance with regulations of the Minister of Transport;

c) An organization or individual that is allocated, leased out or transferred railway infrastructure shall use the land for rail transport according to the planning approved by a competent authority and regulations of law.

3. Management of land for rail transport shall be specified as follows:

a) Regulatory authorities shall manage land for rail transport in accordance with regulations of law on land;

b) The regulatory authority charged with management of railway infrastructure assets shall be assigned to manage the land for construction of railway works and the land safety perimeters of railway works k; manage the use of land for rail transport according to the planning approved by a competent authority;

c) People’s Committees at all levels shall manage the land dedicated to rail transport and the land within railway safety corridors;

d) Land for rail transport that is located within the land for airports, civil aerodromes and seaports shall be managed in accordance with regulations of law on land.

4. The Government shall elaborate this Article.

Article 13. Grading for railway lines

1. National railways, urban railways and specialized railways shall be classified into several grades. Each grade shall come with corresponding standards.

2. The establishment, approval and announcement of standards in grading for railway lines shall be compliant with regulations of the Law on Technical Regulations and Standards.

Article 14. Gauges

1. National railway or specialized railway that is connected to the national railway has a standard gauge of 1,435 mm or a narrow gauge of 1,000 mm.

2. New national railway and urban railway have a standard gauge of 1,435 mm. Other gauges shall be decided by the Prime Minister.

3. The gauge of specialized railway that is not connected to the national railway and passes through residential areas shall be decided by the investor after receiving comments from the Ministry of Transport.

Article 15. Connection of rails of railway lines

1. Rails of domestic railway lines must be connected at railway stations.

2. Only national railway is connected to the foreign railway. The Prime Minister shall decide on the rail connection between national railway and foreign railway.

3. The Minister of Transport shall specify conditions and procedures for the connection of urban railway and specialized railway with the national railway; and the rail connection between urban railway lines.

4. Organizations and individuals shall specify the connection between the specialized railway and specialized railway in which they invested.

Article 16. Railway stations

1. Railway station is classified as follows:

a) Passenger stations used for passenger loading and unloading, and provision of services related to passenger transport, professional procedures and other commercial purposes;

b) Cargo stations used for transfer, receipt, handling and storage of cargoes, and provision of other services related to cargo transport and professional procedures;

c) Technical stations used for completion of professional procedures in service of train operation;

d) Mixed stations having functions of 02 or 03 types of stations set forth in Points a, b and c of this Clause.

2. A railway station must meet the following requirements:

a) Depending on the grading for railway stations, a railway station must have terminals, squares, warehouses, yards, platforms, fences, service areas, necessary equipment and other works related to railway activities;

b) A railway station must have its own name, and information and instructions for passengers. The name must not be identical and must be appropriate to locations, local history, culture and fine traditions and customs. At stations along the national railway in grade-III or above urban areas, key stations and international stations, there must be working offices for regulatory authorities involved in railway activities according to the planning approved by a competent authority.

c) A railway station must have emergency exit system; fire safety and fighting system; power supply system, lighting system, ventilation system; water supply and drainage system;  sanitation system, and other technical requirements of the train station;

d) A passenger station must have facilities and equipment accessible to the disabled and prioritized subjects according to regulations of law; emergency telephone system and first aid supplies;

dd) An international stations or central station must have an architecture that shows the history and traditional cultural identity of each region. A high-speed rail station must have control equipment to ensure security and safety;

e) At a national railway station or urban railway station, offices and trade and service facilities may be built.

3. The vertical area of a station shall be determined according to the strip of land from station-entry signaling position on one side to the station-entry signaling position on the other side; the horizontal area of a station shall be determined according to the land area inside the fence or boundary marker of the station according to the planning approved by a competent authority.

4. The Minister of Transport shall specify the grading for railway lines.

Article 17. Railway crossings and rail junctions

1.  A junction between two or more railway lines must be grade-separated (“flying junctions”), except for the junctions between specialized railways.

2. A rail crossing has to be grade-separated in the following cases:

a) Railways with the designed speed of 100 km/hour or higher intersect roads;

b) Railways intersect roads of grade III or above; railways intersect urban roads;

c) Urban railways intersect roads, except for tramways.

3. The investor in a new railway line shall build grade-separated flying junctions and grade separated junctions according to Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article. The investor in a new road shall build grade-separated junctions according to Clause 2 of this Article.

4. In the cases other than those specified in Clause 2 of this Article or where a grade-separated crossing is yet to be feasible, the People's Committees at all levels, railway infrastructure enterprises, project investors or organizations and individuals wishing to cross railways must observe the following regulations:

a) The place where the level crossing will be built must be licensed by a competent authority.

b) At the place where the level crossing is not allowed, a collector road connected to the nearest level crossing or grade-separated junction must be built outside the railway safety corridor.

5. The Minister of Transport shall elaborate on:

a) Level crossing, traffic at level crossing; issuance and renewal of construction permit, improvement, upgrade or removal of level crossing;

b) Road-rail bridge, traffic at road-rail bridge;

c) Connection of traffic lights at level crossings, provision of safety information at road-rail intersections.

6. The Government shall specify the methods and road map for dealing with railroad crossings and rail junctions that are not conformable with the regulations of this document, and illegal crossings.

Article 18. Road-rail bridge

1. In case of a road-rail bridge, road/railway must lie outside the traffic safety corridor of the other road/railway; in case of difficult terrain, a protection work must be built on the road's edge close to the railway, except for the cases where the top of the rail is at least 03 meters higher than the road surface.

2. In case of a road-rail bridge, the vertical distance from the highest point of the underneath surface of the road or the underneath top of the rail of the railway to the lowest point of the above span equals the vertical clearance of the work below.

Article 19. Fixed-block signaling system

1. The fixed-block signaling system includes:

a) Signal posts, signal lights;

b) Signs, landmarks;

c) Signs;

d) Fences;

dd) Marks;

e) Other signals.

2. The fixed-block signaling system must be constructed and installed in conformity with grades and types or railways; ensure smooth operation.

Section 2. INVESTMENT IN CONSTRUCTION, MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE

Article 20. Investment in construction of railway infrastructure

1. Investment in construction of railway infrastructure is the investment in construction of new railway infrastructure; technological innovation; upgrade and improvement of railway infrastructure in accordance with regulations of law.

2. The contribution of state capital to an investment project for the development of national and urban railway infrastructure in the form of public-private partnerships during the construction period or throughout project life cycle shall be decided by the Prime Minister.

3. The Minister of Transport and People’s Committees of provinces shall plan and launch the railway work project under their management according to regulations of law.

Article 21. Management and maintenance of railway infrastructure

1. The railway infrastructure to be put into operation must undergo inspections according to regulations of law.

2. Responsibility for management and maintenance of railway infrastructure:

a) The Minister of Transport shall specify the management and maintenance of national railway infrastructure; organize the management and maintenance of state-invested national railway infrastructure;

b) Provincial People’s Committees shall specify the management and maintenance of urban railway infrastructure; organize the management and maintenance of state-invested urban railway infrastructure;

c) Railway infrastructure enterprises shall carry out maintenance of state-invested railway infrastructure assigned by or leased out or transferred by the State;

d) Organizations and individuals shall manage and carry out maintenance of railway infrastructure in which they invested in accordance with regulations of law.

Article 22. Financial sources for management and maintenance of railway infrastructure

1. Financial sources for management and maintenance of state-invested railway infrastructure shall be covered by the state budget; revenues from the use of railway infrastructure and other revenues that are used in accordance with regulations of law.

2. The Ministry of Transport shall manage and use the financial sources provided for management and maintenance of state-invested national railway infrastructure.

3. Provincial People’s Committees shall manage and use the financial sources provided for management and maintenance of state-invested urban railway infrastructure.

4. Organizations and individuals shall manage and use their own financial sources for management and maintenance of urban railway infrastructure in which they invested.

Section 3. PROTECTION OF RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE

Article 23. Protection of railway infrastructure

1. The protection of railway infrastructure includes the following activities: assurance of railway infrastructure safety; prevention of and response to railway accidents and damage to railway infrastructure caused by natural disasters; prevention and prevention and imposition of penalties for acts of encroaching upon or sabotaging railway works, safety perimeters of railway works and railway safety corridors.

2. The safety perimeter of the railway work is the perimeter determined by the space, surrounding land and water areas adjacent to the railway work and is meant for management and protection of the railway work and assurance of railway work safety, including:

a) Safety perimeter of a railway;

b) Safety perimeter of a railway bridge;

c) Safety perimeter of a railway tunnel;

d) Safety perimeter of a railway station or depot;

dd) Safety perimeter of a railway signaling system or power supply system;

e) Safety perimeter of other railway works.

3. The railway safety corridor is the corridor determined by the space, surrounding land and water areas adjacent to safety perimeter of the railway and used for ensuring rail transport safety; serving the recue and ensuring that road users’ vision is not blocked.

4. Construction of works, exploitation of natural resources and conduct of other activities in the vicinity of areas of land for rail transport shall be carried out as follows:

a) Construction of works, exploitation of natural resources and conduct of other activities in the vicinity of areas of land for rail transport shall not affect railway work safety and rail transport safety;

b) In the cases where the construction, resource attraction, and other activities carried out in the vicinity of areas of land for rail transport may affect railway work safety or rail transport safety, the investor, organization or individual exploiting natural resources and conducting other activities shall take measures to ensure the railway work safety and railway safety.

c) The investor, organization or individual exploiting natural resources and conducting other activities shall provide compensation for the damage caused to railway works and rail transport safety in accordance with regulations of law.

5. The Government shall elaborate this Article.

Article 24. Responsibility for protection of railway infrastructure

1. The Ministry of Transport shall have the following responsibilities for protection of the state-invested national railway:

a) Organize and provide guidance on the protection of railway infrastructure;

b) Take charge and cooperate with the Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of National Defense and People’s Committees of provinces which railways pass through in protecting railway works of special importance;

c) Inspect the implementation of regulations of the law on management and protection of railway infrastructure.

2. The People’s Committees at all levels which railways pass through shall:

a) Take charge and cooperate with railway infrastructure enterprises in preventing and imposing penalties for infringement upon railway infrastructure and rail transport safety within the area;

b) Inspect the implementation of regulations of the law on management and protection of railway infrastructure.

3. Railway infrastructure enterprises shall:

a) Protect railway works to ensure continuous and safe rail transport;

b) In case of infringement upon land for rail transport, promptly prevent and report such to a competent authority.

4. All organizations and individuals using railway infrastructure for transport shall comply with regulations on assurance of railway infrastructure safety.

5. All organizations and individuals shall protect railway infrastructure and participate in emergency response to the damage to railway works. When the damage to a railway work or infringement upon railway infrastructure is found, promptly inform the nearest People’s Committee, railway infrastructure enterprise or police station. When informed, the recipient must take measures ensure rail transport safety.

Article 25. Preventing and responding to railway accidents and damage to railway infrastructure caused by natural disasters

1. Every railway infrastructure enterprises shall:

a) Formulate and implement a plan to prevent and respond to railway accidents and damage to railway infrastructure caused by natural disasters to ensure the safety of railway infrastructure that is assigned by or leased out or transferred by the State;

b) Take other responsibilities in accordance with the Law on Natural Disaster Management.

2. Organization and individuals shall prevent and respond to railway accidents and damage to railway infrastructure in which they invested caused by natural disasters in accordance with regulations of law.

3. The Ministry of Transport shall direct relevant organizations and individuals to prevent and respond to railway accidents and damage to the state-invested national railway infrastructure caused by natural disasters in accordance with regulations of law.

4. Provincial People’s Committees shall direct relevant organizations and individuals to prevent and respond to railway accidents and damage to the state-invested urban railway infrastructure caused by natural disasters in accordance with regulations of law.

5. Ministries, ministerial agencies, governmental agencies and People’s Committees at all levels shall prevent and respond to railway accidents and damage to railway activities caused by natural disasters in accordance with regulations of law.