The Prime Minister has approved a technical assistance project preparing for the construction of the metro line No.5 in Ho Chi Minh City.

The technical assistance project is set to conduct a feasibility study on the metro line which will serve as the basis for negotiations with the Asian Development Bank about loans.

It will also make a report assessing HCM City’s traffic management and planning and suggest policies on effective traffic planning.

The newly approved project will be carried out from now to November 2017 with an investment of 840,000 USD, including 600,000 USD funded through Official Development Assistance.

The 17-km-long metro line No.5 will start at Sai Gon bridge and end at the Can Giuoc bus station. The construction project will also build a metro maintenance station covering 25 hectares.

About 8.8km of the line from the Bay Hien intersection in Tan Binh district to Sai Gon bridge in Binh Thanh district will be built in phase I, costing more than 857 million USD.

Once operational, the line No.5 will transport around 526,000 passengers a day, according to the HCM City Management Authority for Urban Railways.-VNA