Train carriages are put onto the Cat Linh -Ha Dong Urban Railway track last month. Trial runs are scheduled to begin in October this year. (Photo: zing.vn) Hanoi (VNA) – The Government has told the Ministry of Transport (MoT)to put the Cat Linh-Ha Dong urban railway into operation by the first quarterof 2018.
The project’s contractor has also pledged not to lag behind schedule anylonger.
Originally slated to be finished two years ago, unresolved capital issues havehindered the progress of the capital’s first metro line, threatening to derailthe project.
An additional loan worth 250 million USD, taken out four years ago due to costoverruns, has not received a greenlight for disbursement by the Export-ImportBank of China (Eximbank).
Le Kim Thanh, director of the Hanoi urban railway management board (MBR) underthe MoT, said that negotiations with China’s Eximbank are underway to extendthe preferential buyer’s credit loan agreements, as well as additionalpreferential agreements.
“This will no doubt impede the progress of the project. We are instructing thecontractor and sub-contractors to mobilise their own financial resources tocontinue the project. However, it’s not easy,” Thanh said.
He said that the Vietnamese and Chinese partners expected to completenegotiations over extension of two preferential agreements by the end of thismonth, which will help accelerate the disbursement. “There will be no moresetbacks,” he stated.
Explaining the reason for the requirement of 658 staff for a 13km railway,including 58 drivers, the project management board said the trains will run 18hours a day, an equivalent of 2.5 shifts, dispelling public concern over thebloated figure.
Out of over 600 staff members, 400 are being trained in Vietnam while 200 havebeen sent to China since 2015 as per the agreement signed between theVietnamese and Chinese governments. The 37 drivers sent to China are all keydrivers whose training lasted nearly a year. Training costs are included in theproject’s initial estimates, the board said.
The MBR also responded to media questions regarding some differences in thetrains’ actual design compared to the models that were publicly polled. Thetrain’s main colour is still green, windows and windshields are made from darkglass. Instructions and signs, as well as the control panel on the trains, willbe available in both Vietnamese and English.
The Cat Linh-Ha Dong urban railway will have 12 stations and one depot area.Out of the initially projected investment of 552 million USD, 419 million USD(76 percent) were loans from China and the rest matching funds by theVietnamese Government.
Construction started in 2011 but since then costs rose to 886 million USD, exceedingthe original figure by 250 million USD, or a 160 percent increase.
Trial runs are scheduled to begin later this year, around October.-VNA
VNA
