“The proposed cable car system is inappropriate at the moment,“ said a Hanoi official referring to an offer to build the means of transport across the famous river running through the city.

The Hanoi Transport Department has denied a proposal made by France-based POMA Group to build a five-kilometer long cable car system that runs across the Red River.  

On June 8, in a meeting with the French firm’s representative, the department's leader listened to the proposal specifcally. 

Connecting Long Bien bus transit station on Tran Nhat Duat Street to Gia Lam Station in Long Bien district, the system would ease the traffic pressure for the inner city and reduce congestion during rush hours on the three bridges of Long Bien, Chuong Duong and Vinh Tuy, according to POMA.

The plan, though was realized by the Department, received refusal as an unfit choice at the moment for the city’s planning.

Explaining this, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Transport Department Ngo Manh Tuan said that all the Hanoi’s master plans that have been approved by the prime minister do not mention the means of transport by cable car system as proposed by POMA.

Besides, the planned route is supposed to overlap that of the metro line 1 and can damage the surrounding landscape. On the other hand, the development of the cable car without combining with Red River tourism products sees no feasibility, said Tuan.

Not only Hanoi, Hoi An – a namesake tourism city in Quang Nam province has refused a cableway across the Thu Bon river suggested by a private firm.

The Red River, originating in China, flows past Hanoi and several provinces in the north of Vietnam before emptying into the Gulf of Tonkin.

Hanoitimes