78% of trips in Hanoi are done with motorbikes, in addition to an increasing number of cars. This leads to traffic jams as well as pollution issues. An urban railway project funded by the French government, will be implemented as part of the city’s wider metro plans.
Urban railway 3 is slated to become operational in 2019 in Hanoi and is slate to run from Nhon in the west of the city to Hanoi Central Railway Station. The 12 station line will run for 12 and half kilometres includes an 8 and half km elevated railway stretch and 4 km of underground.
Nguyen Ngoc Thi, Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board said: We received huge support from our French partner, the French Development Agency, AFD. They provided us financial assistance and consultancy to keep the project running on schedule. I believed that the project will be completed by 2018 and trial operation will be implemented by 2019.
Urban railway 3 should cost 1.2 billion euro, with funding sourced from many sponsors, including the French Development Agency (AFD). The agency provided a preferential loan of 110 million euros and grant of 500 thousand Euro. AFD is planing to offer another preferential loan for Vietnam from now until the end of the year.
Tania Norotte, French Development Agency (AFD) said: The project is aimed to support public transportation and sustainable development in Hanoi. The urban railway will be able to transport a great amount of passengersand help ease the number of vehicles travelling in the city. As such, it will help decrease a great amount of gas emission that causes the green house effect.
"I’m a driver who usually travels along this route. I hope the railway will soon be operational so there will be less traffic and people will find it more convenient." Pham Thanh Tung, Commuter, Hanoi added.
The line is scheduled to extend to 48 km by 2030. When operational in 2019, the railway will be able to transport 230,000 passengers a day, with number expectedto reach 750,000 by 2030./.
