HCM City to Start Building ADB-funded Metro Route 2 in July, 2013

Vietnam’s biggest city of Ho Chi Minh will begin construction of Ben Thanh-Tham Luong metro route funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in July 2013, Vice Chairman Nguyen Huu Tri said. The 11.3- kilometer route, designed to run through districts of 1, 3, 10, 12, Tan Binh and Tan Phu at maximum speed of 80 km per hour, is slated for operation in February 2017. Ben Thanh-Tham Luong metro route will cost nearly $1.4 billion, of which $540 million is to come from ADB, and $195 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB). In early 2011, the Vietnamese government signed the first loan agreement worth EUR28 million with the German government for the project. In June, Vietnamese government approved the second loan deal valued at EUR212.75 million with German Reconstruction Credit Institute (KfW). Developing transport infrastructure projects is the city’s top priority to ease the traffic jams, which mainly resulted from fast population growth and the increasing number of motorbikes. (Nong Thon Ngay Nay –Countryside Today Aug 16 p2)