Nhon - Hanoi Railway Station Metro expected to operate elevated section on April 30

After trial operation at the end of this year, the elevated section of the Nhon - Hanoi station metro is expected to be put into commercial operation on April 30 - May 1, 2024.

Vice Chairman of Hanoi City Duong Duc Tuan gave the above timeline at the conference to contact voters on traffic, road and sidewalk management in the area, organized by the Standing Committee of the City People's Council on November 16.

The Nhon - Hanoi Railway Station metro train ran on a test track at the end of August. Photo: Pham Chieu

Responding to voters' opinions, Mr. Tuan said that the elevated section running commercially will contribute to raising the rate of public passenger transport from the current 19% to 21.5%. Hanoi is studying two projects to limit personal vehicles: banning motorbikes in districts by 2030 and charging vehicles to enter the inner city. However, only when public transport reaches 30-35% will we consider the possibility of limiting personal vehicles.

To achieve the public passenger transport target, Hanoi considers urban railways as the backbone and has planned 10 routes by 2030 with a total length of 417 km, of which 342 km is elevated and 75 km is underground. However, to date, only the Cat Linh - Ha Dong route has been completed and put into operation after 12 years of implementation.

The Nhon - Hanoi Railway Station project is 12.5 km long with 8 stations. Graphics: An Nhien - Ba Do

"If the current projects continue, it will take 150 years to complete the 10 planned urban railway lines. This is unacceptable," said Mr. Tuan, adding that the city is developing a plan to speed up the progress of the urban railway project, including mobilizing financial resources. It is estimated that the construction of 10 urban railway lines in Hanoi will cost about one million billion VND.

The Nhon - Hanoi Railway Station urban railway project is 12.5 km long, passing through 8 elevated stations and 4 underground stations, of which the Nhon - Cau Giay elevated section is 8.5 km long and the Cau Giay - Hanoi Railway Station underground section is 4 km long. The project started in 2009, with a planned completion date of 2015, but after four delays, the new completion date for the entire route is expected to be 2027.

Hanoi's urban railway network. Graphics: Tien Thanh

In March, Hanoi proposed to operate the Nhon - Hanoi Railway Station elevated section in August 2023 instead of the end of 2022 as previously committed. However, the time frame has now been set for April 30 - May 1, 2024.

The overall progress of the Nhon - Hanoi Railway Station metro project is currently at nearly 78%, of which the elevated section is at 99.5% and the underground section is at 36.5%.

Vnexpress.net