Le Anh
A bird's eye view of the construction site for an underground station of Metro Line No.1 in front of the City Opera House - Photo: Kieu Giang
The revised operation of the first metro track is two years later than previous schedule the city announced before a meeting in HCMC on Wednesday on updates of metro projects in the city.
Hoang Nhu Cuong, deputy director of the HCMC Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR), told the meeting with participation of Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai and representatives of relevant agencies and localities that a major problem has arisen for relocation of two household businesses in Di An District in Binh Duong Province where the line will run through.
On top of that, the underground Ben Thanh station is being redesigned for better connection with metro lines No. 2, 3a and 4. As a result, the central station has yet to get off the ground as scheduled.
The investment disbursement of Metro Line No. 1 has been postponed after Japan Transportation Consultants, Inc. (JTC) admitted paying kickbacks to senior civil servants in Vietnam to win consulting contracts.
Cuong said JTC is responsible for a mere 4% of the general consulting package of Metro Line No. 1. “Our review has shown nothing wrong. We have written to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) asking for disbursement resumption but the Japanese side has not accepted our request, and there is no money for consultants to do their job. A number of engineers have left and this has led to delays at the project,” Cuong explained.
Therefore, MAUR said construction of Metro Line No. 1 will not be completed until 2019 and will not be opened to traffic until 2020.
To put work on Metro Line No. 1 on fast track, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai told Binh Duong Province to complete site clearance for the project before this October.
“It is impossible to allow only two household businesses to affect the pace of the whole project,” Hai said.
Tran Van Nam, vice chairman of the southern province, pledged to work with the two household businesses to provide cleared land for the metro project.
As for the design of the central station, Hai reminded the investor of attending to noise and earthquake criteria and at the same time told the ministries of transport and construction to review all the requirements concerned.
Hai urged the Ministry of Planning and Investment to work with JICA over the investment disbursement and report the result to the Government next week.
Hai stressed the importance of investment disbursement, particularly for the consultants, and suggested inviting JICA to the Government Office for discussion if necessary.
Regarding disbursements for the projects with JTC involvement, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong said Japan has informed via the diplomatic channel that they will resume disbursements for the projects which have been inspected.
Metro Line No. 1 connecting Ben Thanh Market in the downtown area and Suoi Tien Theme Park in District 9 stretches 19.7 kilometers, and consists of an 2.6-kilometer underground section and a 17.1-kilometer elevated section. The project has three underground stations and 11 stations on land. Previously, the project was planned for completion in 2017 and operation in 2018.
Initially, the project required an investment capital of US$1.09 billion sourced by the ODA loans and the State budget. However, adjustments and exchange rate volatility have pushed up the figure to US$2.07 billion.
It will take passengers about 29 minutes to commute between downtown HCMC and Suoi Tien Park at a maximum speed of 80 kilometer per hour on the underground track and 110 kilometers per hour on the elevated track.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
