The Tan Kien depot area of Metro Line 3A spans over 26 hectares around Hung Nhon Street, Tan Kien Commune. According to the plan, the depot will house the control center, assembly and maintenance and repair facilities for the line.
Thirteen years ago, the city leveled the site and built the fence and guardhouses at a cost of over VND26 billion (US$1 million). The land clearance and compensation for 152 affected households were handled separately by local authorities.
However, the plot has lain abandoned for years and illegally occupied by locals.
The entrance now has no gate while the guardhouse is abandoned, and people can easily go in and out.
Some have even used the space to run their own businesses.
Line No.3A will connect with line No.1, the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien route, that is scheduled to start operations later this year.
It will run 20 km from Ben Thanh in District 1 and Tan Kien Ward in Binh Chanh District, cost an estimated US$2.8 billion and be built in two phases.
Work on phase 1 is expected to start in 2025 and be completed in 2031.
In 2019, the fence was built around the depot but two families refuse to move out, and one is still holding out.
This project has undergone six extensions to its completion deadline.
Inside the project area, 99% of the leveling work has been completed but is now covered by shrubs, weeds, and miscellaneous plants. The internal road running around the project is sunken, eroded, and narrowed.
The surrounding walls are faded, and sections of a barbed wire fence put around it have been destroyed by locals to create entrances into the plot.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board (MAUR), which manages all metro projects in the city, the items built so far are not protected since they have not yet been officially assessed and handed over by their contractor, resulting in their severe deterioration.
Some areas have sunk into stagnant ponds, and locals have dug ponds for fish farming and vegetable growing.
To avoid waste and protect the depot, the Urban Railway Company No. 1 (HURC1), the city's metro operator, proposed to take over the land temporarily to manage it in 2022.
It suggested that it would come up with plans to use the land for temporary storage, parking and other commercial purposes while waiting for the construction.
But the proposal was not approved.
Currently, one household within the depot area has not agreed to move due to legal issues. In May this year MAUR petitioned the city to instruct Binh Chanh District authorities to swiftly finish the site clearance and hand over the land before the third quarter.
An aerial view of the land plot.
According to the MAUR, obstacles in land clearance have prolonged the project's implementation.
It said the items built so far are not protected since they have not yet been officially assessed and handed over by their contractor, resulting in their severe deterioration while the ground, which had already been leveled, has naturally subsided and no longer meets the standards for further construction.
3A is one of eight metro lines planned to be built in the city. They will have 10 depots on a total area of 222 hectares.
Long Binh Depot in Thu Duc City for line No.1 is nearly complete.
Metro Line No. 2 from Ben Thanh Market to District 12 is in the process of land acquisition. Work on it will begin next year and be completed by 2030.
