This is an ambitious plan, even called the biggest challenge in the city's urban transport infrastructure development history.
To prepare for this step, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has requested 7 central ministries and sectors including the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Government Inspectorate and the State Audit Office to send representatives to participate in the Appraisal Team for bidding packages in the project preparation phase.
This move shows that the city wants to tighten the contractor selection stage, ensuring that projects are implemented transparently, effectively and in accordance with regulations.
Metro is a project with very large investment capital, complex technology, and long time. Just a loose link in the preparation stage can cause the progress to slide for many more years.
Reality has shown that.
Metro line No. 1 (Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien) took 12 years of construction with many capital adjustments, procedural obstacles and slow progress.
Looking at that number, the goal of building 6 metro lines in the next 5 years is clearly a formidable challenge.
But it's not that there is no basis to expect.
Two metro projects No. 1 and No. 2, despite being delayed, have brought valuable experiences. From management mechanisms, bidding procedures, site clearance to accessing technology and human resource training.
Those expensive lessons, if fully learned, will help subsequent projects avoid repeating the vicious cycle of slow progress.
More importantly, metro line No. 1 has shown people a completely different traffic image. Safer, faster and more convenient.
Many people who travel by electric train for the first time have clearly felt the difference, no dust, no traffic jams, no stress amidst the dense traffic flow.
People in Ho Chi Minh City are not lacking in goodwill with public transport, the issue is to have good enough means of transport for them to choose.
Metro proves its convenience and stability, switching from private cars to public transport will no longer be a slogan call.
If 6 metro lines are deployed on schedule, the city's traffic face will change significantly, traffic congestion pressure will decrease, traffic accidents will decrease, and the urban environment will also be improved.
More importantly, people's travel habits will change. From dependence on personal vehicles to using modern public transport.
Ho Chi Minh City has set a very big goal, and people are also placing a very high expectation on it.
But if delayed again, the price to pay will not only be money, but also the trust of society.
