Ho Chi Minh City is speeding up the construction of metro route No.1, Ben Thanh – Suoi Tien, according to the city’s Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR).

The 19.7km-long route has a total investment of over USD 2.49 billion funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The first line of the subway in Ho Chi Minh City, the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro, is taking shape.

Hoang Nhu Cuong, deputy head of the MAUR, said 36 percent of package No.1b, which is building two underground stations, and 60 percent of package No.2 that builds overhead facilities has been completed.

Meanwhile, 11 percent of the work load in package No.3, which includes technical design and mechanical and electrical equipment procurement, has been done.

Le Nguyen Minh Quang, head of the MAUR, admitted that some stages of the project are currently lagging behind schedule. He pledged that more efforts will be made to complete overhead construction in 2019 and put the whole route into operation in 2020.

Regarding metro route No.2, Ben Thanh-Tham Luong, Cuong said the project’s design and total investment are being adjusted, noting that site clearance will be finished in June 2017. This project comprises eight packages with the one that constructs the office building has been implemented.

A dossier on metro route No.5 from the new Can Giuoc bus terminal to Saigon Bridge is being compiled. It will be submitted to the Government and the National Assembly for consideration later this year, he added.

Source: VNA