On May 14, 2018, the Ministry of Transport issued Circular No.26/2018/TT-BGTVT regulating the conditions and procedures for connection of urban railways, specialized railways to national railway; the connection of urban railways system. The Circular took effect since July 1, 2018.

Accordingly, Circular No.26/2018/TT-BGTVT regulates the procedures of granting railway connection permits as follows:

1. Competence to grant Permit for connection to national railways shall belong to the Ministry of Communications and Transport; competence to grant Permit for connection to urban railways belongs to the provincial-level People’s Committees.
2. Organizations and individuals want to connect the railway lines shall make a dossier of application, submit the dossier directly or by post to a competent agency. Within 10 working days after receiving complete dossiers as prescribed, competent agencies shall grant Construction Permit according to set forms. In case of failure to issue a decision, a written reply must be made, clearly stating the reasons therefor.

With detailed and specific regulations, Circular No.26/2018/TT-BGTVT is expected to support organizations and individuals who want to connect to the national railway more easily when implementing this activity, thus attracting more investment capital into the development of the railway service system in Vietnam.