A USD 293 million loan agreement has been signed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government of Vietnam to construct a metro line in an attempt to reduce critical traffic congestion in Hanoi.
State Bank of Vietnam Governor, Nguyen Van Binh, and ADB Country Director for Vietnam, Tomoyuki Kimura signed the loan agreement. The 12.5-kilometer metro line 3 will pass 3.6 kilometers underground. It has 8.9 kilometers of elevated and transition track. The metro line will stretch from Hanoi Station, through Cau Giay, to Nhon. The Government of France and the European Investment Bank are also financing the metro rail line. The project is considered as an integral part of the first of four priority metro lines which are planned for the capital s metropolitan area. The construction is scheduled to be completed in 2015. Once operational, it is expected to transport initially over 150,000 people a day, and almost half a million a day by 2030. Kimura said, The metro rail project will support efforts of Hanoi s authorities to solve traffic congestion more efficiently and substantially reduce green house gas emissions, ensuring the capital s sustainable socioeconomic development.
