Deadline for Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line extended to 2021.
The Ministry of Transport previously asked the PM to extend the deadlines for the Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line to March 31, 2021.
The Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro project was started in October 2011. It is 13km long with a total investment of USD500m. It was expected to be completed in June 2015 but has been delayed eight times even though the trains were bought two years ago. The total investment cost after several adjustments has increased to USD868m.
A trial run will be carried out on December 12 until 31 to test the system. The tasks to review, assess and transfer the project to Hanoi's authorities will be carried out in the first quarter of 2021. The Chinese contractors have bought 13 trains and disbursed USD551m out of USD669m ODA loan.
According to the Ministry of Transport, the Management Board of Railway Projects and the Chinese contractor Engineering-Procurement and Construction have worked many times together but failed to clarify related responsibilities to many problems like design approval or project inspection.
During a meeting in November, the PM also urged the Ministry of Transport to quickly deal with the problems to put the metro line into operation as soon as possible.
