HCM City(VNA ) - Representativesfrom the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee on February 21 worked with consultants  and contractors of the Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien Urban Railway Line 1 (Metro No.1) projectin the city to discuss solutions to accelerate its implementation.

They checked the Municipal Theatre station - the tunnel section connecting thetheatre with Ba Son and Phuoc Long stations. An inspection was also carried outat the construction site of rail assembly and welding on the line.

The construction of these stations is basically completed.

After their inspections, city leaders said they believe the project could becompleted and put into operation by the end of 2020.

The joint venture of consultancy units and contractors said the biggest difficultiesleft are the approval to adjust the total investment, and the delay of paymentfor completed items.

Ho Chi Minh City’s Metro No1 project links Ben ThanhMarket in District 1 with Suoi Tien Tourist Park in District 9.

It is one of the eight metro lines of the HCM City Metroproject managed by the city’s Management Authority for Urban Railways.

The project includes four major bidding packagesusing official development assistance (ODA) and funds from the JapanInternational Cooperation Agency (JICA).

It was first proposed in 2001 as part of acomprehensive public transport plan for the city and neighbouring provinces tomitigate traffic congestion, and includes three monorail lines with a totallength of 37km and six partly underground metro routes running a total of 107km.Ben Thanh will be the hub connecting all the lines.
Project adjustments were approved in August 2011 and afterinvestment costs were re-calculated by consultancy agencies, costs increased tomore than 47.3 trillion VND (2.1 billion USD).

According to the People’s Committee, the cityhas signed three loan agreements worth 31.2 trillion VND.

By now, 62.5 percent of the construction work has been completed. 

Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong said municipalauthorities will continue to work with central agencies and ministries to seekadditional capital to pay contractors, and direct relevant unites to hasten thedisbursement.

He requested the city’s departments and sectors to support the municipal Management Authority for Urban Railways in issues related to legal procedures forproject adjustment, extension of contract implementation time; propose solutionsto swift disbursement for contractors; and help with the technical designevaluation of the project.

Phong asked for thecompletion of 80 percent of the work in 2019, towards completing the project at theend of 2020.-VNA