Investment cost and construction time increased for Metro Line No.2

Signed by Vo Van Hoan, Deputy Chairman of the committee, the proposal proposed increasing investment capital of the project to VND1.49 trillion ($64.78 million) from the current of VND1.35 trillion ($58.7 million).

Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee also proposed pushing back the finishing time of this project to 2026 instead of 2020 as previously planned.

According to Hoan, these changes are necessary was due to inflation and the slow implementation of the ongoing construction of Metro Line No.2 which now was only about 4 per cent completed and is running three years behind schedule.

Metro Line No.2 stations and route

The project to set up extra facilities for Metro Line No.2 was begun in 2016 with the investment capital of VND1.35 trillion ($58.7 million). The Clean Technology Fund occupies $48.95 million of this while ADB contributes $10 million and the rest is sourced from the Vietnamese state budget. The proposed extra capital will be added to the amount of reciprocal capital from the government.

According to Ho Chi Minh City Management Authority for Urban Railways – the developer of this project – this project will directly support the integration of Metro Line No.2 into Ho Chi Minh City’s overall public transport network by providing infrastructure and facilities at stations that will improve access to the mass transit system and strengthen its connectivity with other modes of public transport.

Station accessibility will be improved through pedestrian-friendly walkways and "park and ride" facilities, whereas dedicated bus feeder links will strengthen connectivity.

The supporting infrastructure and other facilities will be designed to incorporate gender-sensitive features that will complement similar measures under Metro Line No.2. Infrastructure improvements will be complemented by policy and regulatory reforms in the areas of traffic management, parking, and congestion pricing. These reforms will also define clear institutional responsibilities for effective enforcement.

Metro Line No.2 running from Ben Thanh to Tham Luong has a total length of 11.3km passing through districts of 1, 3, 10, 12, Tan Binh, and Tan Phu with the total investment capital of more than $2.1 billion from the Asian Development Bank, the German Development Bank (KfW), and the European Investment Bank (EIB). 9.3km of the route will run underground and 0.78 kilometres elevated. The whole system has 11 stations, including one elevated station. This is one of eight Metro Lines which are being constructed in Ho Chi Minh City.

City authorities had previously announced that they would speed up work on Metro Line No.1, connecting Ben Thanh in District 1 and Suoi Tien Theme Park in Thu Duc district so that it could be completed by the end of 2021.