Authorised agencies of Ho Chi Minh City and a Japanese bidding joint venture on July 21 inked a 23.17 billion JPY (226.6 million USD) bidding package to build part of the Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien urban railway line.

The deal was signed between the HCM City Management Authority for Urban Railway and the Shimizu – Maeda joint venture, under which the Japanese contractors will build an underground section connecting the Saigon Opera House and the Ba Son Shipyard with two stations.

The construction is expected to be carried out in 56 months.

The Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien route is 19.7km long, with 2.6km running underground. It has a total investment of 2.4 billion USD.

Construction on the route’s elevated section already began in August 2012.

The route is expected to begin operation on a trial basis in 2019 before fully operational in 2020.-VNA