The project developer announced the details on August 11 at a ceremony marking the installation of calibration rails for technical testing and measurements, nearly eight months after construction began.
According to Sun Group, the project developer, the light rail system will cut travel time between Phu Quoc International Airport and resorts, entertainment areas in the south of the island and the APEC Convention Centre to about 20 minutes once commercial operations begin.
The line will use 1,435mm-gauge rails, with rails 180mm high and 25 metres long, as well as specialised 60R2 grooved rails. The system will include a 1.3km elevated section, a 14.3km ground-level section and about 2km of underground track.
The rails are being supplied and installed by a consortium comprising Vietnam Railways Corporation and China Railway 16th Bureau Group Co Ltd (CRCC16).
Tran Anh Tuan, deputy general director of Vietnam Railways Corporation, said the company had worked on numerous railway projects, but the Phu Quoc light rail was unprecedented because of the island's challenging terrain and adverse weather conditions.
It is also the first railway line in Vietnam to apply this urban electric rail technology, he said.
Following the installation of the calibration rails, construction of the main system will begin with the ground-level section, followed by the elevated section and underground tunnel. Work is scheduled to start in October.
The project is 17.59km long and has a total investment of nearly VND 9 trillion (USD346 million). By early August, about VND 1.8 trillion had been disbursed.
The developer and contractors are working simultaneously on bridges, tunnels and the railway foundation to keep the project on schedule for the 2027 APEC summit.
The line is expected to begin operations within about a year.
