Hanoi Metro, Vietnam

Project in Brief:
Project Type: Metro rail system
Location: Hanoi, Vietnam
Number of Metro Routes: Five
Expected Completion: 2020
Owner: Hanoi Metropolitan Rail Transport Project Board
Other Key Players: SYSTRA
Contractors: Samsung, Daewoo, Ska, Kumho and Kangnam

Hanoi Urban Metro (Hanoi Metro) is a metro rail system that will be developed in Hanoi, Vietnam, by 2020. The project is part of an integrated development programme for urban transport in Hanoi and will provide a safe, efficient and clean urban transportation system. It is the fourth-biggest project in Vietnam to utilise the Japanese Government’s official development assistance capital.

Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second-largest city, with a population of about six million. Many trains, including services to Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh City, depart from Hanoi station. The Union Express travels from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, stopping at cities and towns along the route.

Commuters in Hanoi use motorbikes, buses, taxis and bicycles. The metro project is part of the Vietnam Ministry of Transport's master plan, which aims to reduce the use of private transport and enhance the urban environment.

The metro system will have five routes. The main route - line 3 - will be the first metro line in Hanoi. On completion, the route will provide transport to 200,000 passengers a day. It broke ground in September 2010 and is expected to become operational by the end of 2015.

The entire project is being carried out by Hanoi Metropolitan Rail Transport Project Board (HRB), formerly known as the Hanoi Authority for Tram and Public Transport Development Management (HATD). Technical studies of the system were completed in 2009.

Project

"The 12.5km pilot line will incorporate a 5.5km single track U-viaduct and a 4km twin tunnel."

The feasibility study for a Hanoi metro pilot route / line was completed in October 2005 and design of the pilot line started in 2007. The pilot route will be an east-westbound line and will connect 12 stations in the city bewteen Hanoi station and Nhon depot.

The 12.5km pilot line will incorporate a 5.5km single track U-viaduct and a 4km twin tunnel structure. The system will include 9.6km of elevated and 2.9km of underground sections, and will use 20m metro trains top transport 900 passengers in a single trip. The trains will run at 80km/h, covering the entire route in 20 minutes.

International consulting engineers HRB and SYSTRA signed two contracts to construct the pilot line. Each contract is worth €36m and the total cost of the pilot line is about €500m.

SYSTRA will assist with the commissioning, launch and operation of the service and will supervise the construction and manufacture of rolling stock. It also provided design studies and assessed bids.

The metro's infrastructure will include a viaduct, an underground section, stations, a depot and rolling stock maintenance centre and power supply stations. The construction of line two will begin in 2011 and is expected to be operational in January 2016.

Line routes

Hanoi Metro's routes will include Nam Thang Long to Tran Hung Dao, Nhon to Hanoi station, Cat Linh to Ha Dong and Yen Vien to Ngoc Hoi.

The route connecting Nam Thang Long and Tran Hung Dao will be 11.54km long and serve ten stations. The line will include an 8.55km underground section.
"The metro's infrastructure will include a viaduct, power supply stations and a depot."

The pilot line (line 3) between Nhon depot and Hanoi station will start at Nhon and travel to Cau Giay via National Highway 32, Ho Tung Mau and Xuan Thuy. It will also pass through Kim Ma, Nui Truc and Quoc Tu Giam.

The 13km-route connecting Cat Linh and Ha Dong will travel from Cat Linh to Thai Thinh via Hao Nam and Hoang Cau. From Thai Thinh the line will move towards National Highway 6, connecting Nga Tu So, Nguyen Trai, Tran Phu and Quang Trung.

Financing

The project is being coordinated and financed by several organisations including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the European Investment Bank.

The latter has granted a €173m loan to help fund the construction of line 3.

Part of the project is being financed by Agence Française de Développement (AFD). The money provided by AFD is being used to construct the pilot line's infrastructure.

The project is being co-financed by bilateral overseas development assistance loans. They amount to €280m, of which €200m is tied and €80m is untied.
Source: http://www.railway-technology.com

HCM City asks TTI consortium to trim tramway cost

The HCM City government has just asked TTI consortium to reassess the investment capital of the first tramway project in the city, otherwise construction will not be allowed, said the head of the Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR) on Thursday.

“By now, the consortium hasn’t got enough conditions to start construction of the tramway this month as scheduled earlier because its financing plan for the project had not been agreed on by the city government,” Nguyen Do Luong told the Daily.

The consortium, grouping Thanh Danh Construction and Trading Co. Ltd, Malaysia-based Titanium Management Co. and Phu My Bridge BOT Co., had suggested total capital of some VND4.1 trillion for the tramway under the build-operate-transfer investment formula.

Considering this suggested investment capital too high, the city government has asked the consortium to redo the project’s financing plan with an aim to trim the final cost so that the city government could give its final approval, he said.

Luong said although the consortium had already won an investment license for the tramway, the permission could be revoked.

“In the coming time, if the negotiation for trimming the cost between the city and the consortium could not be finalised, the BOT contract for the project would not be signed, and then the investment license will also be cancelled,” he stressed.

Two months ago, MAUR had announced to kick off construction on the tramway in August.

The 12.2-kilometer tramway will start at Ben Thanh Market and go along the East-West Highway and the Ben Nghe-Tau Hu Canal to the Mien Tay Coach Station with six main stations and 17 stopovers. The project is expected to be completed in 2012.

To solve the increasing traffic congestion, the city government is calling investors for building six metro routes, one tramway system and two monorails in the city.

Related to the investment of the two monorails, Luong of MAUR also said that the Hanoi-based Dat Phuong Joint Stock Company was seeking the city government’s approval to develop a monorail under the BOT form.

Following the recent suggestion by Dat Phuong, MAUR is preparing all technical and financial procedures for the monorail project for submission to the city government.

Established in 2002, Dat Phuong Joint Stock Company is active in some areas such as traffic works, hydropower and irrigation, construction of infrastructure and urban areas, travel services, hotels and restaurants, according to the company’s website. – Saigon Times