Construction began in September 2010, with a planned completion date of 2015. However, 14 years later, the urban railway is still not operational.
The latest operation plan, provided by the investor, the Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board (MRB), was scheduled for June.
According to Tien Phong reporters, this plan was proposed after the government directed the investor to commence operation of the trains by December. Specifically, on August 7, 2022, the Government Office announced: “The Prime Minister directed the Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee to resolve obstacles and put the Nhon – Hanoi Station elevated section into operation by the end of 2023.”
After failing to meet the December deadline, a representative from MRB told Tien Phong that they were finalizing the last procedures to operate the trains commercially before June 30.
After 14 years of construction and 13 broken promises, the Nhon – Hanoi trains have yet to commence passenger services. |
However, as of July 1, the trains have still not commenced passenger services. This is the 13th time the urban railway has missed its deadline for commencing operations.
Explaining the delay, a representative from MRB stated that the construction of the elevated section was 100% complete, and the project’s ten passenger trains had finished their trial runs. In mid-June, the Vietnam Register granted the technical safety certification for the trains to operate commercially as planned in the second quarter. However, the project is currently undergoing inspections and acceptance tests by relevant authorities before receiving the safety certification required for operation.
In addition to missing the deadline 13 times and being nine years behind schedule, the Nhon – Hanoi Metro Project has also experienced the highest cost overrun among all urban railway projects in Hanoi. Specifically, the approved investment at the project’s commencement was VND 18,408 billion (mainly from ODA loans from the French Government). However, after several adjustments, the total investment has increased to over VND 30,000 billion, a cost overrun of nearly 63%.
Previously, the Cat Linh – Ha Dong urban railway experienced a six-year delay, a 45% cost overrun, and missed its deadline ten times.
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13 missed deadlines of the Nhon – Hanoi Metro Project: 1. Failed to complete the project by the initial deadline of 2015 2. Adjusted deadline to 2016 3. Failed to complete in 2016, and the Hanoi People’s Committee adjusted the deadline to 2017 4. Failed to complete in 2017, and the deadline was pushed back to 2018 5. Did not finish in 2018, and the Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board committed to completing it by April 2021 6. Missed the April 2021 deadline and adjusted it to October 2021 7. Did not meet the plan to operate trains in April 2021 and postponed it to December 2021 8. Failed to operate trains in December 2021 9. During the Prime Minister’s inspection of the project site on August 7, 2022, the Hanoi People’s Committee reported the progress and committed to putting the elevated section from Nhon (Bac Tu Liem) to S8 Station (Cau Giay), over 8 km long, into operation by December 2022 10. Failed to meet the December 2022 deadline and the commitment made to the Prime Minister. In March 2023, MRB requested a postponement to August 2023 11. After missing the August 2023 deadline, on August 7, the Government Office announced the Prime Minister’s directive: “The Prime Minister directed the Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee to resolve obstacles and put the Nhon – Hanoi Station elevated section into operation by the end of 2023.” 12. The project could not operate the trains on the elevated section as directed by the Prime Minister by the end of 2023. Afterward, the leader of MRB told Tien Phong that they had completed the final critical tasks to operate the trains commercially on the elevated section in June this year 13. The Nhon – Hanoi trains have still not commenced operations on the elevated section from Nhon to Cau Giay as promised. |
Times News Team
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