Work on Hanoi metro route reaches halfway point

Ninety-eight percent of the elevated sections and 60 percent of the elevated stations have been built, the Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board (MRB) said.

The contractor is now putting up v-shaped roofs on the elevated stations so that they can be washed clean when it rains, it said. A part of Tran Hung Dao Street will be closed to traffic by the end of this month for the construction of the underground station.

The Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station route runs 12.5 kilometers from Nhon in Tay Tuu Ward, the western district of Nam Tu Liem, via Kim Ma Street to Hanoi Railway Station in the downtown area. It runs 8.5 kilometers on elevated tracks through eight stations and four kilometers underground through four stations.

Work on the line first began in 2010, with the cost estimated at $1.2 billion and operations scheduled to start in 2017, but delays have pushed the cost up to $1.55 billion.

The MRB plans to commercially operate the elevated section next year and the underground section in 2022.

The route is one of several planned for the capital to ease traffic congestion and reduce emissions. The first line, from Cat Linh to Ha Dong, is scheduled to begin operations next month. The 13-kilometer route runs from Cat Linh Station in downtown Dong Da District to the Yen Nghia Station in the south-west Ha Dong District.