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| Part of Hà Nội’s Cát Linh-Hà Đông railway project. A trial run process for the city’s first metro line, which was slated to start in October, missed the deadline so another plan should be set up to replace it, according to Deputy Minister of Transport, Nguyễn Ngọc Đông. — VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hùng |
Viet Nam News
HÀ NỘI — Another trial run should be planned for Hà Nội’s Cát Linh–Hà Đông urban railway project, after the first one was cancelled, according to Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyễn Ngọc Đông.
Đông said the trial run process for the city’s first metro line, which was slated to start in October to prepare for official operation in the second quarter of 2018, missed the deadline so another plan should be set up to replace it.
The deputy minister of transport was quoted on Bnews online newspaper on Sunday saying that the trial would be developed based on the amount of equipment and trains available, which is dependent on disbursement from China Eximbank.
“The Ministry of Justice and relevant ministries are completing procedures to put forth the disbursement”, Đông said.
As of November 24, five out of 13 trains for the railway had been delivered to Hà Nội.
By May this year, China Eximbank had disbursed US$18.25 million for the project, according to Vũ Hồng Phương, Deputy Director General of the Railway Project Management Unit under the Ministry of Transport.
The amount, part of a delayed $22.75 million, has been transferred to the Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC) contractor, to be paid to sub-contractors.
About 90 per cent of construction work has been completed by May this year. Equipment installation was underway. However, the delay in capital disbursement had hindered the project’s progress.
The 13 kilometre Cát Linh-Hà Đông urban elevated railway will have 12 stations and one depot area.
Out of the initially projected investment of $552 million, $419 million (76 per cent) was sourced from Chinese loans, with the rest matched by the Vietnamese Government.
Construction started in 2011, but in November 2014 it was announced the project would need a total of $868 million, an increase of $300 million or 160 per cent over the initial estimate.
An additional preferential loan worth $250.62 million, negotiated three years ago, was signed between the Ministry of Finance and China Eximbank on May 11. — VNS
