Major bidding package of Hanoi Metro Line 1 to be restarted

The perspective of Ngoc Hoi complex belonging to Hanoi's Metro Line 1

The Ministry of Transport has reportedly agreed with a recent proposal from Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board (MRB) on restarting the process of selecting contractors for tender package HURC1-101 which involves preparing space and weak foundation treatment for Ngoc Hoi complex belonging to the first phase of Hanoi Metro Line 1.

According to Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong, MRB is required to send a report about the case to the project donor—Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)—to reach a consensus about annulling the previous short-listing results in 2013 and host another short-listing in compliance with Japanese donor regulations and Vietnamese laws.

The first phase of Metro Line 1 has just been divided by MoT into two separate sub-projects.

Accordingly, the first sub-project focuses on building the Ngoc Hoi complex which take on the functions of the existing Hanoi and Giap Bat railway stations, plus building several functional zones for future rail lines with an estimated total investment capital of VND19.302trillion ($857.8 million).

The second sub-project involves building the Ngoc Hoi-Hanoi section and an additional elevated section from Giap Bat to Ngoc Hoi.

When the project was approved by MoT in 2012, it was reported to have a total investment capital of around VND24.825 trillion ($1.1 billion).

The progress of Metro Line 1 depends heavily on the implementation of the Ngoc Hoi complex, particularly selecting contractors for the HURC1-101 package which has been delayed for five years now.

Earlier, in mid-February 2018, MRB had proposed MoT to cancel the previous short-listing results from 2013 and host a new short-listing and bidding process following the Law on Procurement regulations and JICA donor guidance.

HURC1-101 is one of the major building packages of project on building Hanoi’s Metro Line 1 connecting Yen Vien and Ngoc Hoi.

During 2012-2013, the project developer Vietnam Railways (now MoT) hosted a short-listing and nine contractors and consortiums were short-listed.

Later, due to the implications of Japan’s JTC case which involved giving kick-back money to Vietnam Raiways officials at HURC1-001 package on consultancy services, MoT had postponed the distribution of bidding invitation dossiers of the package.

To prepare to restart the package, last October MRB sent letters to previously short-listed contractors. As of February 2018 five out of nine contractors have certified their continued willingness to participate.

MRB, however, argued that as the HURC1-101 package hosted the short-listing five years ago and as new capable contractors are showing attention in the package, it is important to expand the contractor list to boost competitiveness and raise bidding efficiency.

The size of the package was also scaled down (the area of weak foundation treatment reduced from 110.4 to 95.2ha).

Activities related to updating and perfecting the technical design records, cost estimations, and preparing tender invitation records are being intensively handled by MoT’s Transport Engineering Design Inc. (TEDI) and SAPMAN (a consultancy unit supported by JICA) to finish by the deadline this month.

If things go smoothly, the short-listing will take place between April and June, paving the way for tender invitation records to be distributed from July 2018. The project’s first phase is slated for completion in 2024.

According to Hanoi’s transport planning to 2030 with a vision towards 2050, Hanoi will build ten metro lines with the total length of 417.8km for over $40 billion.

About $7.55 billion will be needed in 2017-2020, $7.6 billion in 2021-2025, $3.56 billion in 2026-2030, and $21.32 billion after 2031.