Speech delivered by Le Nguyen Minh Quang, Head of Management Authority for Urban Railways of HCMC in the Conference on investment connection shows a panoramic view of the progress of the entire urban railway system in HCMC for the time being.
HCMC Urban railway system consists of eight metro routes (subways), one tramway and two monorails. Eight metro routes are divided into 12 packages and several phases.
Phase 1 has 4 packages of which Metro line No. 1 is the section from Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien which is under construction with a total investment of US$2.49 billion USD and expected to be completed in 2020.
Metro line No. 2, starting from Ben Thanh to Tham Luong, was scheduled to start construction in 2013, but due to various difficulties, HCM has asked the Government to delay to 2020. This line is expected to cost nearly US$2.2 billion and to be completed in 2024.
Metro line No. 5, section from Bay Hien intersection to the Saigon Bridge, which has been approved with an estimated capital of US$1.92 billion, is scheduled to be completed in 2024. However, due to difficulties metro line No. 1 is facing with, it is unknown when metro line No. 5 will be started.
Capital investment has been called and approved for these three packages.
Metro line No. 3 connecting Ben Thanh to Western Bus Station has the total investment estimated at US$1.9 billion. The survey and cost estimates completed by JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) have been submitted to the Minister of Planning and Investment (MPI) for review.
In phase 2, only metro line No. 3 starting from the Western Bus Station to Tan Kieng (District 7) has been surveyed with estimated investment at US$1.1 billion. The report made by JICA has been submitted to MPI for review.
In addition, there are seven packages belonging to metro lines No. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 which have not been implemented yet, including metro line No. 2 from Ben Thanh - Thu Thiem and Tham Luong - Tay Ninh, metro line No. 2 from Tay Ninh Bus Station - Cu Chi, metro line No. 3 from Cong Hoa to Hiep Binh Phuoc (Thu Duc district), metro line No. 4 from Thanh Xuan (District 12) to Hiep Phuoc Urban Area (Nha Be), metro line No. 4 from Gia Dinh Park to Cha Ca Mausoleum, metro line No. 5 from Can Giuoc new bus station to Bay Hien intersection and metro line No. 6 from Ba Queo to Phu Lam.
The total investment capital of the nine packages is estimated at US$17.8 billion.
Besides, HCMC is also calling for investment in a tramway and two monorails.
Monorail No. 2 starts from Expressway No. 50 to Binh Quoi, with a total length of 27 kilometers and an estimated investment of US$0.7 billion. Monoral No. 3 from the Phan Van Tri - Nguyen Oanh intersection to Tan Chanh Hiep District (District 12) has a total length of 10 km and the total investment estimated at US$0.4 billion.
