Hanoi has announced plans to axe avenues of trees to make way for a new metro line.
As part of the plan, 157 trees along Tran Hung Dao and Cat Linh will be cleared to facilitate the construction of the last underground station on the long-delayed Line 3.
Most of the trees will be relocated elsewhere.
Among them are 12 rare sua trees (dalbergia tonkinensis) whose trunks measure up to two meters. They will be replanted in Thong Nhat Park, according to the Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board.
The metro line, running 12.5 kilometers from Nhon to Ha Noi Station, is one of several planned for the capital city. Together they will form a rail network aimed at easing traffic congestion and reducing emissions.
Work on the line began in 2010, with the cost originally estimated at $1.2 billion and operation scheduled to start in 2017. However, funding delays have pushed the cost estimate to nearly $1.6 billion and may stretch the deadline to 2021.
Trees are frequent victims of urban development in Vietnam.
In September last year, 130 trees along Kim Ma Street in Hanoi were also cleared out to pave the way for the metro line.
The capital also removed 106 trees around Voi Phuc Temple, including many decades-old African mahogany trees along the Thu Le Lake, to make way for the project.
In Ho Chi Minh City, hundreds of trees have been felled for the city's first metro line.