HCMC – During a working session at the Ben Thanh Station and Ba Son Station of the HCMC metro line No.1 on July 27, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh underlined the need to reduce administrative procedures while implementing the next ODA projects to speed up the pace.
According to Bui Xuan Cuong, head of the HCMC Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR), the metro line No.1 project is 91% complete. There are over 2,180 engineers working for the project.
The Ben Thanh station of the city’s first urban railway is now 81% complete. It serves as a hub connecting four metro routes in HCMC, namely Metro Line No. 1 (Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien), Metro Line No. 2 (Ben Thanh-Tham Luong), Metro Line No. 3A (Ben Thanh-Tan Kien), and Metro Line No. 4 (Thanh Xuan-Hiep Phuoc).
The project’s investor has submitted a proposal for the commercial operation of Metro Line No. 1 to the HCMC People’s Committee.
The metro line No. 3A project, which will be implemented using ODA funding provided by the Japanese Government, is expected to link to Metro Line No. 1, with the possibility of extending to Can Tho City.
PM Chinh asked the Japan International Cooperation Agency to collaborate closely with its Vietnamese counterparts to finish implementing the projects. He also urged ministries and departments to streamline administrative processes to speed up work on the projects.
Metro Line No.1, linking Ben Thanh Market in District 1 and Long Binh Depot in Thu Duc City, is 19.7 kilometers long and requires VND43.7 trillion. The city expects to put the project into commercial operation in the fourth quarter of 2023.
