Chinese contractor urged to ensure Hanoi metro line pace

Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The on December 23 had a meeting with China Railway Sixth Group Co, Ltd, contractor of Hanoi’s Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line, about their proposal to delay the trial run of the project until November 2018.

Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro project

The project was slated to become operational in the first quarter of 2018, however, due to problems related to the capital disbursement, it has once again been delayed.

The said that China Railway Sixth Group Co, Ltd’s proposal to delay the project’s official operation until November 2018 has not yet been approved. He requested the Chinese contractor to ensure the adjusted schedule would be met before submitting it to the government for consideration.

To date, around 95% of the project has been completed. The Chinese contractor has transported nine out of 13 trains to Vietnam.

The slow pace is mainly attributed to sluggish capital disbursement. The agreement to provide additional loans for the project was signed between the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance and the Export-Import Bank of China in May this year. 

The ministry has sent all necessary procedures to the bank, but the bank has to date still has not completed procedures.

The management board of Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro project has asked the Ministry of Transport to work with Chinese Embassy in Vietnam to speed up the disbursement.

The 13-km metro line’s investment capital has amounted to around US$868 million, up by US$300 million from the initial figure.