Ho Chi Minh City’s Metro No.1 project will receive strong support from local authorities so that it can soon be put into operation, Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan on March 13 stressed.

Officials of HCM City inspect the construction sit of the metro No. 1 project on March 13

Inspecting the work, Nhan highlighted the significance of the 19.7 km Ben Thanh-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 it will lay the foundation for the following metro lines and make significant contributions to completing the city’s comprehensive transport system plans.

This is one of the eight metro lines of the HCM City Metro project, managed by the city’s Management Authority for Urban Railways.

The project includes four major bidding packages using official development assistance and funds from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

It was first proposed in 2001 as part of a comprehensive public transport plan for the city and neighbouring provinces to mitigate traffic congestion.

Project adjustments were approved in August 2011, following three increases to the total investment from 14.4 trillion VND (623.2 million USD) to reach more than 47.3 trillion VND (2.1 billion USD).

The municipal People’s Committee said that the city has signed three loan agreements worth 31.2 trillion VND.

By now, 62.5 percent of the work has been completed. 

According to Bui Xuan Cuong, head of the city’s Management Authority of Urban Railways, some 1,400 engineers and workers are working on the Metro No.1 project, with completion of 80 percent of the workload achievable this year. 

Under the Government’s Decision No.568/QD-TTg dated April 8, 2013 on the adjustment of HCM City’s transport system by 2020 and a post-2020 vision, the city’s railway system will include eight metro lines as well as three tramways or monorail lines with a total length of around 220 km. Total investment for the city’s urban railway is projected at nearly 250 billion USD. –VNA