The UK government is willing to lend $500 million to urban railway No. 3 in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi, Ambassador Giles Lever said at a meeting with Nguyen The Thao, chairman of the municipal People’s Committee on Sept 22. Mr. Lever noted that the UK government is keen on technical infrastructure, water treatment and environment projects in the city. The urban railway will be developed into two phases. The first phase starting from Nhon to Hanoi station, which is 12.5 kilometers long, is under the construction, while the second phase starting from Hanoi station to Hoang Mai, which is 8 km long, is scheduled to be carried out in the 2015-2020 period. The route is part of Hanoi’s master transport development plan by 2020. Hanoi will build five urban railway routes linking the inner city with nearby urban centers of Bac Ninh, Vinh Phuc, Hung Yen and Thai Nguyen. These railways are aimed to ease traffic jams and accidents, which are now among the capital city’s hot issues. Hanoi has the longest traffic jams among cities nationwide. (ktdt.vn Sept 22)
