The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has just submitted to the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee on the dossier approving the investment policy for the Ben Thanh - Can Gio metro line.
Previously, the original plan was to start at Ham Nghi - Le Loi road, near Ben Thanh market.
However, the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City has opinions that this area has many relics such as: Ben Thanh Market, Fine Arts Museum on Pho Duc Chinh Street, Hoa Xa headquarters.
The Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City requires investors to ensure absolute safety, taking full responsibility if there is a collapse, tilting or cracking of relic works during construction.
On that basis, the investor proposed moving the starting point of the route to the inside of 23/9 Park.
According to the new plan, Ben Thanh - Can Gio Metro will start in 23/9 Park, running along the park area parallel to Le Lai Street, then change direction to Nguyen Thai Hoc Street to follow Ky Con axis and cross Ben Nghe Canal.
After crossing the canal, the route goes northeast to Hoang Dieu street, then changes direction to the Southeast axis in the Nguyen Tat Thanh - Doan Nhu Hai area.
From here, the metro runs straight through Nha Rong port area to near Tan Thuan 2 bridge, then enters Nguyen Van Linh direction, crosses Nguyen Thi Thap intersection to Tan My ward, before extending to Can Gio.
At the meeting of the Steering Committee for the Development of the Urban Railway Network on November 14, Ho Chi Minh City Party Secretary Tran Luu Quang requested to start construction of the Ben Thanh - Can Gio Metro on December 19. Departments and branches must implement many tasks in parallel, not to wait or get stuck due to lack of coordination.
In order to speed up the project progress, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee proposed that the Standing Committee of the City People's Committee Party Committee consider, agree to approve the implementation of the establishment, appraisal and approval of the investment policy according to the route plan proposed by the investor.
The specific route will continue to be assessed in the feasibility study step, before the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee decides.
At the same time, this route plan will be updated in the Ho Chi Minh City Master Plan Adjustment Project to 2040, with a vision to 2060; the review and adjustment of the zoning plan will be carried out in the next steps.
The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee also proposed that the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee consider approving the policy of changing the purpose of using 1.57 hectares of protective forest land to serve the project.
The Ben Thanh - Can Gio Metro is nearly 53 km long, passing through 8 communes and wards including: Ben Thanh, Xom Chieu, Tan Thuan, Tan My, Nha Be, Binh Khanh, An Thoi Dong and Can Gio (formerly in districts 1, 4, 7, Nha Be district and Can Gio district).
The route is built according to double track standards, 1,435 mm track gauge, maximum design speed of 350 km/h, using an eight-carry train with a capacity of about 600 passengers and operating from 6am to 11pm every day.
In phase 1, the line has two main stations, Ben Thanh and Can Gio; when demand increases, four stations Tan Thuan, Tan My, Nha Be and Binh Khanh will be added in phase 2. The depot and control center will be located in Can Gio commune.
The total estimated investment is more than VND 85,650 billion, equivalent to USD 3.3 billion.
If it is started at the end of this year as planned, the Ben Thanh - Can Gio Metro line will enter the construction and equipment installation stage until the third quarter of 2027, will be put into trial operation in the fourth quarter of the same year and can be put into commercial operation from the first quarter of 2028.
