Officials of HCM City inspect the construction sit of the metro No. 1 project on March 13 (Photo: VNA) HCMCity (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City’s Metro No.1 project will receivestrong support from local authorities so that it can soon be put intooperation, Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan onMarch 13 stressed.
Inspecting the work, Nhan highlighted the significance of the 19.7 km BenThanh-Suoi Tien line, which travels through District 1, Binh Thanh, District 2,Thu Duc, District 9, and ending in Binh Duong province. He explained that itwill lay the foundation for the following metro lines and make significantcontributions to completing the city’s comprehensive transport system plans.
This is one of the eight metro linesof the HCM City Metro project, managed by the city’s Management Authority forUrban Railways.
The project includes four major bidding packagesusing official development assistance and funds from the Japan InternationalCooperation Agency (JICA).
It was first proposed in 2001 as part of acomprehensive public transport plan for the city and neighbouring provinces tomitigate traffic congestion.
Project adjustments were approved in August 2011,following three increases to the total investment from 14.4 trillion VND (623.2million USD) to reach more than 47.3 trillion VND (2.1 billion USD).
The municipal People’s Committee said that thecity has signed three loan agreements worth 31.2 trillion VND.
By now, 62.5 percent of the work has beencompleted.
According to Bui Xuan Cuong, head of the city’s Management Authority of UrbanRailways, some 1,400 engineers and workers are working on the Metro No.1project, with completion of 80 percent of the workload achievable this year.
Underthe Government’s Decision No.568/QD-TTg dated April 8, 2013 on the adjustmentof HCM City’s transport system by 2020 and a post-2020 vision, the city’srailway system will include eight metro lines as well as three tramways ormonorail lines with a total length of around 220 km. Total investment for thecity’s urban railway is projected at nearly 250 billion USD. –VNA
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