​Hanoi metro fares initially capped at 65 US cents

The minimum will be VND8,000 (34 cents).

Passengers can also buy monthly season tickets for VND200,000 ($8.61) or daily tickets for VND30,000 ($1.29), both allowing unlimited trips.

The proposal, meant to collect public opinion, said the fares would only apply initially when the commercial run begins next month, and would be increased later.

Work on the Cat Linh-Ha Dong elevated railway began in 2011 and was originally scheduled for completion in 2013. But several hurdles, including loan disbursement issues with China that were only resolved in December 2017, stalled it for years.

The original estimated cost of $552.86 million also ballooned to more than $868 million, including $670 million in loans from China.

The metro eventually entered the testing phase with all 13 cars carrying out trial runs on both lines. The ministry wanted commercial operations to begin before the Lunar New Year in early February, but this deadline too was missed.

The Chinese contractor of the metro, China Railway Sixth Group Co., Ltd, plans to finish trial run this month. It has been carrying them out since last September.

Hanoi, a city of more than 7.5 million people, has 5.2 million motorbikes and around 550,000 cars, besides some 1.2 million vehicles brought by non-residents, according to police figures.

 

 

​Hanoi metro fares initially capped at 65 US cents

First metro line gets on track with trial run in Hanoi