Metro Line No 2’s planned stations and route map. Photo courtesy of the HCM City Urban Railway Management Board

HCM CITY — District authorities are sending detailed compensation plans to households that must move to make way for the city’s Metro Line No 2, which runs between Bến Thanh market in District 1 and Tham Lương Depot in District 12.

According to the HCM City Urban Railway Management Board, no meeting will be organised with the households because of current social distancing measures. Twenty days after April 18, if households have any comments, a meeting will be organised to address issues.

The municipal People’s Committee last month approved the land price adjustment coefficient to calculate the project’s compensation rate in districts 1, 10, 12 and Tân Bình and Tân Phú (District 3 is still considering the land price adjustment coefficient).

District authorities are expected to complete site clearance compensation and resettlement for affected households by June.

Speaking at a recent conference, Trần Lưu Quang, deputy secretary of the city Party Committee, said districts must ensure compensation and resettlement by June so that the project can move ahead. 

Bùi Xuân Cường, head of the city's Urban Railway Management Board, said that a total area of 251,136sq.m is needed to make way for the project, affecting 602 households. Of that number, 121 households will have to move. 

To date, 108 households have received compensation. Some 53 households have already handed over their land for the project.

The management board is ready to relocate technical infrastructure such as telecommunications, electricity and water supply, and drainage works to make way for the project, according to Cường.

The Metro Line No 2 will have 10 stations and span more than 11km through districts 1, 2, 3, 10, 12, Tân Bình and Tân Phú. Trains will travel underground for about 9.2km. 

When completed, the metro line will connect the Thủ Thiêm new urban area with downtown HCM City and neighbourhoods in the city’s northwestern section.

The line is expected to open in 2026, two years later than the initial 2024 goal. 

The project cost has nearly doubled since its start, from VNĐ26 trillion (US$1.1 billion) to VNĐ47.89 trillion ($2.05 billion).

In a related issue, trains for the city’s first metro line, which runs between Bến Thành Market in District 1 and Suối Tiên Theme Park in District 9, are undergoing final technical inspection in Japan, according to the board.

The testing phase is expected to be completed in the next few months, and the first trains will be delivered to Việt Nam by the second quarter of the year.

Construction on the line will be sped up this year so it can open by the end of 2021, according to city authorities. 

Total investment for Metro Line 1, which is about 19.7km long, has reached VNĐ46.3 trillion ($1.97 billion). — VNS