In just a few years, probably, construction will begin on an underground section of Hanoi's developing metro system.
Hanoi authorities will dig into official development assistance funds, totaling US$1.75 billion, in order to complete the new metro section, which will connect Hanoi's central train station with Hoang Mai District. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will contribute US$450 million for the construction, while the German development bank KfW, the French Development Agency and the World Bank are all also interested in contributing, VnExpress reports.
The Hanoi Railway Station-Hoang Mai route will run for almost nine kilometers from Le Duan Street to Phap Van, with most of it running underground. For construction, which is set to begin in 2021 and finish in 2025, 11.34 hectares of land will need to be cleared.
City authorities aim to eventually have nine metro lines running, but it's been a long and arduous journey so far. Work began on the second line, the 12.5-kilometer Nhon–Hanoi route, in 2010. The route was originally set to begin operating in 2017. The initial estimated cost was US$1.2 billion, but this has since risen to US$1.55 billion.
The first metro line, running from Ha Dong to Cat Linh, has faced repeated struggles too. In February 2017, it was announced that trial runs would begin in October of that year and that trains would be up and running by the first quarter of 2018. However, we all know how that turned out.
It was then hoped the line would open in April 2019. China Railway Sixth Group Co., Ltd. has been conducting tests on the tracks since last September. Three to six months is the normal amount of time spent on trial runs. Some sections of the tracks, such as pathways and terminals, however, remain unfinished, and so opening the track has been further delayed.
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