VIETNAM’s Ministry of Transport announced last month that it expected to start work next year on two elevated railways through the centre of Hanoi.
The bigger project is reconstruction of a 24·6 km section of DSVN’s main line between Yen Vien and Ngoc Hoi (RG 3.04 p124). By 2010 this will be rebuilt as a double-track mixed-gauge route carrying standard-gauge suburban EMUs and metre-gauge through trains.
Construction is to begin in April 2005 on an elevated line linking Hanoi and the southwestern suburb of Ha Dong. This 12·5 km double-track route with 12 stations is to be completed by the end of 2007, at an estimated cost of US$241m. According to DSVN Director Vu Xuan Hong, the line will be built to Chinese metro standards, with trains of 2800mm wide stock able to carry up to 230 passengers per car.
The Director of Hanoi’s Transport & Public Works Department Pham Quoc Trong confirmed in July that the city expected to build five elevated railways and one metro line by 2015, with a combined capacity of 160 million passengers a year.
- City officials in Ho Chi Minh City hope to start work this year on two metro lines totalling 20·6 km, following the completion of a pre-feasibility study in July. Both the north-south Line 1 and east-west Line 2 will have 11 stations, including an interchange at Ham Nghi Boulevard. Total cost is put at US$795m, of which the city will contribute 30%. Further funding is expected to come through the Chinese contractors and loans from the German and Austrian governments. Opening is envisaged for 2008.
