HCM CITY  – HCM City’s metro route No 1 linking Bến Thành Market with Suối Tiên Tourist Park in District 9 will be extended to the neighbouring provinces of Bình Dương and Đồng Nai, according to the Bình Dương People’s Committee.

An additional 2km of line will link Suối Tiên Station with a station at Bình Dương from where it will be extended further to other stations in the two provinces under a plan approved by their authorities after several meetings.

The 2km line to Bình Dương will run along the Mỹ Phước – Tân Vạn Highway while a 3.8km section to Đồng Nai will run along (and to the left of) Đồng Nai Bridge.

Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper quoted Japanese experts as saying the plan to add the 2km section is ideal since the Bình Dương Station is near the borders with Bình Dương and Đồng Nai, allowing the two provinces to make their own plans to build separate sections.

The two provinces have also agreed to stretch the line in two phases, building the Bình Dương Station in the first and the rest in the second.

Construction of the second phase will be undertaken independently by the two provinces.

The compensation to be paid for acquiring land for the 2km section from Suối Tiên to the Bình Dương Station will be equally shared by the two provinces.

According to Japanese experts, the cost of extending the line will be around VNĐ21.23 trillion (nearly US$950 million), including VNĐ2.32 trillion ($103 million) for the section from the Suối Tiên Station to Bình Dương Station.

They also suggested that construction of the 2km section should be done in 2018-22 while the extension to the provinces should start in 2023.                  

Their proposals will be assessed by the Ministry of Transport and HCM City People’s Committee.

Trần Thanh Liêm, deputy chairman of the Bình Dương People’s Committee, told Tuổi Trẻ newspaper that the extension would create favourable conditions for speeding up urban development and improving public transportation.

Along with preparations for the metro extension, Bình Dương has also earmarked lands along the planned metro line for developing urban areas under the TOD (transit-oriented development) mode.—VNS