The EPC contractor of the Cat Linh - Ha Dong metro line, the first of its kind in Hanoi, wants to hand over the project by December 31, but the Vietnamese Transport Ministry reckons it’s unlikely to happen, local media reported.

The Cat Linh - Ha Dong metro line. Photo: Minh Anh

As reported by the Ministry of Transport in early October, the contractor has imported 99% of equipment needed for the project.

However, the project has experienced several delays, the latest one was attributed to the fact that the Chinese contractor has not provided certificates and documents for independent foreign experts to peruse and evaluate the system’s security, the ministry said.

Also in early October, French consulting firm Apave-Certifier-Tricc consortium (ACT), hired by the Ministry of Transport to examine the design, said that a complete evaluation could take another six months, which means the metro could not begin commercial operation until next year, even though Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has set a deadline for 2019.

Work on the Cat Linh-Ha Dong railway line, which covers around 13 km, running between Cat Linh street in Dong Da district in Hanoi downtown and Yen Nghia bus station in Ha Dong district, began in October 2011 and was originally planned for completion in 2013.

The line serves 12 stations and a depot at Phu Luong ward in Ha Dong district and has a rolling stock of 13 trains at a frequency of two minutes. Each train, running at speeds of between 35 and 80 km per hour, consists of four carriages and can accommodate up to 1,000 passengers.

Project costs have more than doubled from the original VND8.8 trillion (US$553 million) to VND18 trillion (US$868 million), according to state auditors, applying the exchange rate at their respective timings.