Hanoi to set up 10 urban railway routes

Thứ Ba, 04/07/2017, 15:07

Hanoi will invest in 10 urban railway routes from now until 2030 with total funds of more than US$40 billion.

A model of the Hanoi Raiway Station-Hoàng Mai railway route. Hanoi will invest in 10 urban railway routes from now until 2030. 

The urban railway routes will be more than 417km in length.

The new routes are one of the projects under the capital city’s transport scheme until 2030 with a vision towards 2050, which has been approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

The investment capital will be disbursed among different periods. The 2017-20 period will need some $7.5 billion and the 2021-25 period will need some $7.6 billion. More than $3.5 billion will be spent on the 2026-30 period and over $21.3 billion will be spent on the period after 2031.

At present, Hanoi has four urban railway routes, of which two – Ngoc Hoi - Yen Vien and Cat Linh - Ha Dong – are invested by the Ministry of Transport. The remaining two – Nam Thang Long-Tran Hung Dao and Nhon - Hanoi Railway Station – are invested by the Hanoi authorities and are under construction.

To speed up investment and completion of the urban railway routes, the Hanoi People’s Committee has proposed two options to Prime Minister Phuc.

Under the first option, the Government will use the official development assistance (ODA) fund for projects under the 2017-25 period and following years.

Under the second option, the Government will use the ODA fund to execute the two urban railway routes of Tran Hung Dao - Thuong Dinh and Hanoi Railway Station-Yen So. The Hanoi People’s Committee said the Japanese government, the Asian Development Bank and several other investors are keen to sponsor the two projects. Hanoi has pledged to allocate corresponding funds to implement the two projects. For the remaining projects, Hanoi will invest under a public-private partnership.

Leaders of the municipal People’s Committee said, so far, five domestic investors and two international investors have registered to invest in the urban railway routes.

Hanoi has proposed that the investors spend funds on research documents, ground clearance, underground trench digging, and building stations, flyovers and rails. The Hanoi People’s Committee will invest in other areas, including locomotives, railroad cars and security software.

VNS