On December 6, the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board (MAUR) sent a document to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee reporting on the implementation of Metro Line 1 project (Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien).
According to MAUR, the SMC4 consortium (Sumitomo Mitsui - CIENCO4), the general contractor of the CP1a package (underground section from Ben Thanh station to City Theater station), has not yet reached an agreement on signing project documents. This affects the project disbursement progress in 2024.
However, MAUR affirmed that these problems do not affect the exploitation and operation time of Metro Line 1. The issue is currently under the authority of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee.
MAUR is also actively working with the SMC4 consortium and has requested the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to support the promotion of internal settlement.
In 2024, Metro Line 1 project needs to disburse more than VND4,467 billion. However, as of the end of November, only VND1,130 billion has been disbursed, reaching 25.3% of the plan.
To ensure that Metro Line 1 operates on December 22, 2024, MAUR recommends that the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee report to the Prime Minister to direct relevant ministries and branches to shorten administrative procedures, and at the same time request the State Inspection Council for construction work acceptance to support and guide the completion of the final acceptance steps.
According to MAUR, Metro Line 1 has completed 100% of the construction volume. Important tasks such as fire prevention and fighting acceptance of CP1b package, trial operation, registration and inspection stamping for 17 trains have all been completed.
Currently, MAUR is coordinating with relevant units to speed up the progress of remaining work, including:
- Completed fire prevention and fighting acceptance and issued environmental license on December 10.
- System safety assessment and certification on December 15.
- The entire project was accepted by the State Inspection Council on December 20.
- Metro Line 1 officially enters commercial operation from December 22, 2024.
According to the Public Transport Management Center (HCMC Department of Transport), 17 bus routes with 150 electric cars connecting Metro Line 1 station will begin operating when the project enters commercial operation on December 22.
These bus routes are operated by Phuong Trang Futabuslines Passenger Transport Joint Stock Company, the winning transport enterprise.
The 17 bus routes are numbered: 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168 and 169. All buses are electric, with two types: 30 and 60 seats.
The routes of these bus routes connect residential areas, schools, traffic hubs, shopping centers... to Metro Line 1 stations. These are crowded places, making it easy for passengers to catch buses to the stations and vice versa.
Along with the organization of a connecting electric bus network, pedestrian bridges and parking lots are built at many stations of this project for easy access.
Metro Line 1 has a one-way ticket price of 6,000 - 20,000 VND, a monthly ticket of 300,000 VND (150,000 VND/month for students). Passengers can also choose to buy a daily ticket (40,000 VND) or a 3-day ticket (90,000 VND), with unlimited trips.
