Hanoi studies pilot monorail urban railway

The Hanoi People's Committee will coordinate with the Ministry of Transport to study and develop a detailed route plan and implement a pilot project to build a monorail urban railway to call for investment under the form of socialization (BOT).

Monorail urban rail systems abroad. (Photo source: wdwmagic.com)

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hung, Director of Hanoi Department of Transport, suggested that Hanoi will study and plan the route and build a pilot monorail route No. 2 with two branches (branch one: Le Duc Tho-Le Quang Dao-Chau Van Liem-Road 70-Phuc La; branch two: Giap Bat-Road along Lu River-Road along To Lich River-New Provincial Road 70-Ha Dong Xuan Mai-Phu Luong axis), to connect urban railway routes No. 1, 2A, 5, 6, 8.

In response to this proposal, Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang agreed and assigned the Transport Engineering Design Corporation (TEDI) to coordinate with Hanoi to implement the project.

Regarding ensuring railway traffic safety, the Ministry of Transport also requested the Vietnam Railway Corporation to work with Hanoi City this April to specifically implement the coordinated regulations, especially the automatic warning information system at intersections between roads and railways; review and check the criteria according to the railway industry's regulations for the railway level crossings that the Hanoi Department of Transport is implementing to organize the reception, management and operation.

Referring to the urban railway system being deployed in Hanoi, especially the Yen Vien - Ngoc Hoi route, Hanoi leaders proposed reviewing the technical design to have an infrastructure investment plan to more conveniently connect different types of transport. However, due to the slow agreement and consensus among the city's functional agencies, the Ministry of Transport requested Hanoi to take drastic direction and speed up the progress of the projects.

In addition, the Ministry of Transport will also coordinate with Hanoi to mobilize investment resources in the form of build-transfer-operate (BOT) contracts and public-private partnerships (PPP) to invest in National Highway 6 (Ba La-Xuan Mai), Mai Dich-Noi Bai route (synchronized with the elevated road), old National Highway 1 (Ngoc Hoi-Phu Xuyen), old National Highway 3 (Duong Bridge to the end of Hanoi)./.

Previously, in 2010, Vietnam Construction and Import-Export Joint Stock Corporation (Vinaconex) proposed to the Government a plan to build an elevated monorail for the Van Cao-Nguyen Chi Thanh-Tran Duy Hung-Lang-Hoa Lac route with a length of 38km, with a total investment of over VND5,800 billion (equivalent to about USD8 million per km).

It is planned to build 14 stations along the entire route. Trains will run at a speed of 60-70km/hour, with a designed capacity of carrying about 60,000 passengers/day/direction.

According to Vietnam +