HANOI – The operation of the Nhon-Hanoi Station metro line on the elevated section has been pushed back to August this year, instead of end-2022 as earlier planned. This was the fourth time Hanoi City had rescheduled the operation of this urban railway.
Hanoi was seeking the prime minister’s approval to revise the investment policy of the pilot metro line of Nhon-Hanoi Station, reported the local media.
As per the revised plan, Hanoi expects to complete the package of the Nhon Depot in May 2023, conduct trial operation from May to the end of June 2023 and carry out inspection and handover and safety certification in August 2023.
The city also proposed rescheduling the operation of the entire line to 2027, excluding 24 months of maintenance.
The city’s authority blamed the delay on the limited capacity of contractors and investors as well as the inefficiency in consultancy and coordination between departments.
The authority also admitted that they had yet to take strong measures in project management and faced bottlenecks in specifications, standards, unit price, materials and specialized equipment of the metro line.
The extension of the project will result in a cost rise, so Hanoi will request increasing the project’s investment cost by VND1,900 billion, causing its total to rise over VND34,820 billion.
Currently, the rail line is 75.6% complete, of which the elevated section is 97.6% done and the underground section 33%.
The 12.5-kilometer-long Nhon-Hanoi Station metro line has eight elevated and four underground stations.
