Vietnam Railways Corp., the state- owned train operator, may make changes to the funding plan for a proposed $56 billion high-speed line after the National Assembly rejected the project last month.

A revised feasibility study for the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City bullet train may also be submitted by early next year, Nguyen Manh Hien, an executive in the rail company’s international relations department, said at a conference in Hong Kong Saturday.

Vietnam Rail may seek $35 billion of government funds to help to pay for the line, Nguyen said. The rest would be from public-private partnerships and from overseas sources including Japan, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, he said. He didn’t say which parts of the plan may be changed.

Vietnam has begun work on a new transport master plan after the National Assembly rejected the high-speed rail line because of concerns about paying for a project costing about 60 percent of annual economic output. The government proposed building the 1,550 kilometers railway to pare travel times and ease emissions.

If the plan wins approval, the rail company aims to begin construction in 2012 and to complete the project by 2035, Nguyen said. Construction will cost $22.6 million per kilometer, which is comparable to similar projects in Taiwan, France and Japan, he said.

Japan will explore ways to help fund the project, Japanese Transport Minister Seiji Maehara said last month after the rejection vote. Vietnam Rail is planning to use Japanese technology to build the line, Nguyen said.

Two groups formed in Japan to bid on the project. Sumitomo Corp. teamed with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., while Itochu Corp. headed another group with Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. (Bloomberg)