Utilities construction begins for second HCMC metro line

The Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR) held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for utilities construction serving Ho Chi Minh City’s second metro line (Ben Thanh-Tham Luong).

Work on the first bidding package of the mega project is expected to be completed within 20 months, said MAUR deputy head Nguyen Quoc Hien.

He said the package’s first phase will include: the construction of water supply and drainage systems as well as 110kV high voltage transmission lines; and temporary relocation of medium and low voltage power and telecommunications facilities.

In the second phase, the contractor will permanently relocate medium and low voltage electricity and telecommunications works and make them underground, he added.

“The relocation aims to prepare clean ground for construction of the main works of the metro line, which is scheduled to be kicked off at the beginning of 2025 and put into operation by 2030,” Hien said.

The MAUR official also said that site clearance for the whole project has reached 86.69%, with five out of six districts (1, 10, 12, Tan Binh and Tan Phu) fulfilling 100% of the task.

Relevant units are making efforts to complete this work by the end of 2023, Hien said.

HCMC’s Metro Line No. 2 has a total investment of nearly VND47.9 trillion ($2.04 billion). Approved in 2010, the 11-kilometer metro project that runs from District 1 to District 12 will have 9.09 kilometers of underground and 1.95 kilometers of over ground tracks, starting at the Ben Thanh Depot, the city’s metro hub, and finishing at the Tham Luong Depot, passing nine underground stations and one elevated station.

Work on the metro line was set to start in 2022 and be completed in 2026. However, in addition to slow site clearance, the project has faced several problems related to signing appendices to the consulting contract that have led to extended delays in loan extensions, signing new loans from lenders and bidding for main packages.

Speaking at Thursday’s groundbreaking ceremony, HCMC Vice Chairman Bui Xuan Cuong noted that the southern economic hub plans eight metro lines with a total length of 220 kilometers and a total investment capital of more than $25 billion.

Metro Line No. 1, connecting Ben Thanh Market in District 1 and Suoi Tien Tourist Park in Thu Duc city, is expected to be completed this year, 15 years after work first began in 2008. The project has missed several deadlines to date.

The 19.7-kilometer line has cost VND43.7 trillion ($1.89 billion), sourced from Japanese official development assistance (ODA) and Vietnamese counterpart funds.

The city is current drafting plans for Metro Line No. 3 connecting the Ben Thanh market with a high-tech healthcare zone; Metro Line No. 4 linking Thanh Xuan ward of District 12 and the Hiep Phuoc urban area; and Metro Line No. 5 joining the Bay Hien crossroads and Saigon bridge.

It is calling for ODA from foreign partners like JICA, ADB, KfW and EIB to fund the projects; and also offering the transit oriented development (TOD) model to attract needed resources.