Hanoi will start building two of 14 planned metro lines in the fourth quarter of this year as it moves on a plan to get people in the Vietnamese capital off motorcycles and out of cars and onto public transportation, Vietnamese business site The Investor reports.
The first project starts in October. This line will run for 11.5km from Nam Thang Long on the northern edge of the city to the northeastern suburb of Tran Hung Dao.
Some 8.9km will be underground and 2.6km will be elevated. It will have seven underground and three elevated stations, and is expected to cost $1.4bn.
Work on the second starts in December. It will be 38km long, making it the longest in Hanoi’s metro network.
Expected to cost $2.4bn, it will run from Van Cao in north-central Hanoi to Hoa Lac on the western outskirts.
Most of this line – 30km of it – will run alongside existing roads at ground level. Around 6km of track will be underground, and 2km will be elevated. It will have 21 stations, six underground and 15 at ground level.
Hanoi has long struggled to build its metro system, and to date has only succeeded in completing two lines.
Off your motorbikes
Last December, the Vietnamese government put forward a plan to begin work on 14 lines by 2030. This envisages some 550km of track, forming the backbone of the city’s mass transportation system. Alongside this, there will be seven major road schemes to improve traffic circulation.
One government objective is to persuade Hanoi’s residents to swap their motorcycles for safer means of transport. The city government passed a resolution in 2017 to restrict motorcycles in urban districts by 2030.
Little progress has since been made, which the city blames on its poor public transport. Studies have shown that restricting motorcycles would only be feasible when public transport use reaches 30-50%, but is currently less than 20%.
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