Vietnam's eventual goal is a modern twin-track express line between the northern capital Hanoi and the southern business hub of Ho Chi Minh City, said the local head of the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

"The Vietnam government has asked us to make a feasibility study for a railway line from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, which would be 1,650 km (1,025 miles) long," said KOICA country representative Kim Seung-Beom.

He said it was unclear who may eventually build the railway lines.

South Korea last year paid US$900,000 for a feasibility study being carried out now for a 410km line from Ho Chi Minh City to the southern seaside resort of Nha Trang, estimated to cost US$6.5 billion, Kim said.

This month South Korea gave Vietnam another $1.2 million non-refundable grant to pay for a study on a 280km line from Hanoi to the northern port city of Vinh, with research set to start later this year.

A third study for a longer Vinh-Nha Trang railway line that would complete the trans-national route could start one or two years later, Kim told AFP.

"Vietnam now has a railroad but it's only one line and they would like to make it two lines and electrify it," said Kim, who added that the new route would likely also follow the coast of the long and narrow country.

The new 1.4m-wide tracks would replace current narrower tracks and allow trains to travel at speeds of about 200 kph (120 mph), nearly three times faster than current trains.

The studies were being carried out by Chungsuk Engineering Co. and the Korea Railroad Research Institute, Kim said.

In June this year Vietnam Railway Corp said the country planned to spend $30 billion to upgrade its national railway system by 2013, allowing trains to travel at speeds of about 200 km per hour.

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