HÀ NỘI — Nearly VNĐ7.7 trillion (about US$340.7 million) of French governmental development assistance will be poured into the ongoing Nhổn-Hà Nội Station Urban Railway.

A signing ceremony Tuesday morning celebrated the official contract between the Hà Nội Urban Railway Project Management Unit (PMU) and French contractors.

Accordingly, the money, which covers all taxes and fees, will be used to design, supply and install the railway system with an engine, depot facilities and management systems for stations, signals, communications and electricity.

Head of the Hà Nội Urban Railway PMU, Nguyễn Cao Minh, said contract will help speed up the project as well as solve the project’s critical path method, namely tunnels and stations.

Minh said that the bidding plan for Package 6, as the project is known, was carried out in accordance with existing Vietnamese laws and donor regulations.

“The bidding and evaluation were closely and orderly implemented by investors, consultancy agencies, donors and relevant agencies. The joint-name contractors were evaluated to meet requirements of investors,” he said.

According to Minh, the contractors Alstom Transport S.A-Colar Rail S.A-Thales Communications & Security S.A.S are leading French companies with experience and capacity in urban railway building. In addition, they are eligible to donors’ requirements that devices must have originated from France.

"Upon completion of Package 6, along with other packages of the project, Hà Nội will have a completely new public transport mode with advanced standards that meet travel demands along the East-West corridor from the periphery to the center of the city,” Minh said, adding that the project will improve the capacity of public passenger transport and gradually build a civilised and modern capital.

French Secretary of State for Transport Alain Vidalies--who visited Hà Nội for the ceremony--called the signing an important milestone between the two countries, especially in the transport development strategy.

Hà Nội People’s Committee Chairman, Nguyễn Đức Chung, also stressed the importance of the project to the city, saying that its completion will help ease transport pressure and improve the city’s congestion.

"This project is not only important to Hà Nội but also will be a symbol of the co-operation between the two countries," Chung said.

Chung requested the PMU and contractors to accelerate construction to complete the project on schedule, and he proposed the people’s committee of Đống Đa, Ba Đình and Hoàn Kiếm districts to accelerate site clearance to implement the project properly and ensure absolute safety for workers.

A representative of the contractors committed to carry out the project with quality, with specialised trains designed and manufactured to meet the expectations of people in the capital city.

The Nhổn-Hà Nội Station Urban Railway is a part of the Hà Nội Pilot Light Metro Line Project. It will run 12.5km along the National Highway 32 from Nhổn in Bắc Từ Liêm District to Hồ Tùng Mậu-Cầu Giấy-Kim Mã-Núi Trúc-Cát Linh-Trần Quý Cáp-Hà Nội Station. The railway will include 8.5 km elevated through eight stations and 4 km underground through four stations and a depot in Nhổn. It has nine main packages including five construction and installation packages and four packages on facility systems. — VNS