The People’s Committee of Hanoi has requested approval from the Prime Minister to postpone the commercial operation of an elevated section of the Nhon-Hanoi Station metro line project until August 2023, which was originally planned for late last year.
According to local media, this marks the ninth delay proposed for the operation of the metro line.
To ensure safety, the city will complete the construction of a depot in May 2023, after which the metro line will undergo safety checks and certification before the trial operation begins in May-June 2023. The trial operation will consist of 57 scenarios and will last for eight weeks.
During a meeting in August 2022, the Hanoi People’s Committee and relevant agencies were instructed by the government leader to complete the elevated section of the metro line by the end of that year and to come up with solutions to shorten the time required to complete the underground section by half, from the previously proposed completion date of 2027.
Construction of the Nhon-Hanoi Station metro line project began in September 2010 and was initially expected to be completed in 2016. The route, which is the second to be put into operation after Cat Linh-Ha Dong in the capital city, will cover 12.5 kilometers from Nhon Station in Nam Tu Liem District to the Hanoi Railway Station in the downtown area, including 8.5 kilometers on elevated tracks and four kilometers underground.
Despite 13 years of construction, the project is only about 75 percent complete, and its investment has increased from VND18 trillion (US$764.9 million) to over VND34.5 trillion ($1.5 billion), local media reported.