A huge 6.5bn railway between China and Vietnam is set to revolutionise travel between the two South Asian countries.

       The large-scale infrastructure project was near-unanimously greenlit by the Vietnam National Assembly this week, with 455 out of 459 members voting in favour of the transport link.

       The 243-mile railway will run from the Vietnam-China border at Lao Cai-Hekou, through the capital of Hanoi to Ha Long City, according to Reuters.

       The route, called the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong line, will travel through the mountainous region bordering China’s Yunnan province and be a crucial link between China and one of Vietnam’s largest port cities.

       It will be partially funded by loans from the Chinese government after Vietnam approached China about support to improve its ageing transport infrastructure, VOA News reported.

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       The railway will reportedly have a gauge of 1,435 millimetres and a capacity for trains to shoot across the continent at speeds of up to 99mph, carrying passengers and cargo.

       Vietnamese Transport Minister Nguyen Hong Minh told parliament last week that the country needed a new railway system “to support its economic development”.

       Reports also suggest the railway could boost electronic manufacturing in Vietnam by increased supply of parts from China, with the new line running through the country’s Samsung, Foxconn and Pegatron hubs.

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       “Once the railway is put into operation, it will greatly improve trade between China and Vietnam,” Xu Liping, director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

       “Meanwhile, Vietnamese goods can be transported to Europe more quickly and cost-effectively through China, after the railway connects with the China-Europe freight train network,” he added.

       The newly-approved structure is one of two railway lines between the two countries planned by Vietnamese authorities under the “Two Corridors, One Belt” programme, designed to promote economic cooperation in Southeast Asia.

       The initiative is connected to China’s Belt and Road global infrastructure scheme, an ambitious plan to build new trade routes connecting China with the rest of the world through a series of infrastructure and investment projects.