This was the ninth delay in the operation of the project.

The delay was attributed to limited capacity and inexperience from parties involved in the project and the committee's failure to deal with the problems relating to standards, equipment, and prices.

The committee also proposed to delay the operational date of the entire line until 2027.

The 12.5 km Nhon-Hanoi station metro project with financial backing from the French Development Agency and the European Investment Bank has eight elevated and four underground stations. Construction of the metro line project started in September 2010 and was initially planned to finish in 2016.

However, the project has faced a sluggish process and has seen its operational date delayed eight times.

During a site visit last August, PM Pham Minh Chinh demanded that the metro line construction work be completed faster.

The Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board (MRB) then reported to the PM that by that time the line had been completed by 75 percent, in which 95 percent of the elevated section had been finished.

According to MRB, the slow construction process was caused by the use of sophisticated technologies being applied in Vietnam for the first time and inexperience from parties involved in the project; difficulties in fulfilling obligations from donors and financing agreements; and issues related to the site clearance process. The long delay has led to the project's investment costs doubling to VND34 trillion (USD1.55 billion).

At the visit, PM Chinh called for drastic measures to address the remaining issues and draw lessons for similar projects in the future. The PM requested that the elevated sections of the metro line must be completed before December 31, 2022.

The project is one of 10 metro lines planned for Hanoi by 2030 with a total length of 417km, 82 percent of it above the ground.

The first metro line in the capital city, running from Cat Linh Station in the central district of Dong Da to Yen Nghia Station in Ha Dong District in the city's southwest, opened in November 2021 after 10 years of construction and several delays.

Source: Dtinews