Cat Linh-Hadong metro clears legal barriers

March 06, 2018 | 17:12

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With the legal problems related to an additional loan cleared, Cat Linh-Hadong elevated urban railway, the first project of its kind in Vietnam, is planned to begin trial operation in September, which will be followed by the official launch in the fourth quarter.

cat linh ha dong metro clears legal barriers

The officials visited the construction site

Today morning Phan Xuan Dung, chief of the National Assembly's Committee of Science, Technology and Environment, made a fact-finding trip to the construction site.

Dung was accompanied by members of the committee and Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong, as well as the Railway Project Management Board.

According to China Railway Sixth Group Co., Ltd. (CRSG), the main engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) contractor of the project, 95 per cent of the basic construction has been completed and 70 per cent of the equipment is already installed.

As planned, the basic construction will be finished in late April 2018. The railway will be connected to the grid in late May 2018 and will be put into trial technical operation in June 2018.

95 per cent of the construction has been completed

Approved in 2008, the project has a total investment sum of $552 trillion, $419 million of which was borrowed from China. The project was earlier planned to be officially launched in 2016, then the total investment was adjusted to $868 million, with loans from China increasing by around $250 million, to $669 million.

In 2017, the project implementation had to be lengthened due to delays in the disbursement of the additional loan caused by problems related to legal procedures between the two countries.

By December 2017 all legal problems for the additional loan were dealt with. China Eximbank has officially started the disbursement procedures for the additional loan.

The construction site at Hadong depot

Dung asked CRSG and relevant units to ensure the project schedule so that the railway can soon be launched to serve the growing travel demand and contribute to easing traffic jams in the city.

By Bich Thuy

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