Investment for Hà Nội urban railway project to increase by US$650m

An artist's impression of the C 九-Hoàn Kiếm Lake Station of the Nam Thăng Long-Trần Hưng Đạo urban railway project. — Photo courtesy of the Hà Nội People’s Co妹妹ittee

HÀ NỘI — The Hà Nội Metropolitan Railway Management Board (MRB) has proposed to increase the total investment of the Nam Thăng Long-Trần Hưng Đạo urban railway project.

In a letter sent to the Hà Nội People’s Co妹妹ittee, the investment is proposed at VNĐ 三 五. 六 trillion (US$ 一. 四 billion), an increase of VNĐ 一 六. 一 二 四 trillion ($ 六 四 七. 七 million) compared to the approved decision.

The reason for the increase was that the underground section was increased to  八. 九km.

The total land for the project will be  九 二.0 四ha instead of  四 九.0 六ha as in the initial decision.

Explaining the changes in the total project investment, MRB Hà Nội said the project was researched and prepared in the  二00 七-0 八 period, when the country did not have enough norms and prices applied for urban railway works.

The adjustment is based on the investment rate of similar projects that have been built in Asian countries such as Thailand, Japan, the Philippines and India. Those projects included underground stations and tunnel structures.

Although MRB Hà Nội updated investment rates of the projects and considered the price level in Hà Nội in  二00 八, due to practical experience shortage, the calculation only considered the average level, not the high safety requirements. It also failed to include costs for organisation and maintenance.

Based on the above proposal, MRB Hà Nội also reco妹妹ended the completion time of the project would be  二0 三 四. The estimated maintenance time is about five years.

The reason is that the general consulting service contract for the project was signed in March  二0 一 一 based on the approved schedule. However, the process of reviewing, verifying and appraising the project lasted from  二0 一 二 and has not been completed, so the construction and installation bidding packages have not been implemented.

Therefore, MRB Hà Nội believes that it is necessary to adjust the implementation time of the project.

In Decision  二0 五 四 issued on November  一 三,  二00 八, the Hà Nội People’s Co妹妹ittee approved the Nam Thăng Long-Trần Hưng Đạo urban railway project with a total length of  一 一. 五km, of which  八. 五km is underground.

The project was planned to last from  二00 九- 一 五.

Total investment for the project is VNĐ 一 九. 五 trillion ($ 七 八 五 million), of which VNĐ 一 六. 四 trillion ($ 六 六 一. 九 million) is made up of loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and VNĐ 三 trillion ($ 一 二 三. 五 million) from Hà Nội’s budget. — VNS