HANOI, June 13 (Engineering Daily) -- The capital transport system this time was found to be not kept pace with the economic society development. Current status of transport infrastructure is weak and deficient, the rate of land for traffic is low, the percentage of kilometers of roads per km2 of area reaches only 30% compared with the requirements in urban areas and 50% in expansion urban areas. While the proportion of private vehicles has increased rapidly, with over 3.7 million motorcycles and 380,000 cars, accounting for 76% transport share; public transport accounting for only 10% and etc.. Thus traffic jams often occur, especially during rush hour. Therefore the redevelopment of the traffic infrastructure network of Hanoi, ensuring criteria of sustainability, green and modern is urgently necessary.
According to the draft of capital transportation plan by 2030 and with vision toward 2050, adopted in 2010, Hanoi will have eight urban railway lines and six highways. The urban railway Cat Linh - Ha Dong, Nhon – Bac Co, Nam Thang Long – Bac Co and Giap Bat - Gia Lam will be completed and put into operation in 2020. But the expectations of the citizens seem very far away, whereas there are still a lot of works cluttering after 5 years starting.
The first railway project section Yen Vien – Ngoc Hoi which received approval of Detailed Design since October 2009, was postponed since April 2014 due to impact of bribery from Japanese Transport Consulting JTC to Vietnam Railway officials. Currently the project has not been restarted yet. The urban railway section Yen Vien – Ngoc Hoi with 15 km length was approved with the total capital for Phase 1 of VND 19,459 billion.
The urban railway section Hanoi Station – Nhon was started in September 2010, with total capital of VND 18,000 billion, passing 5 districts with the length of 12.5 km. According to the initial plan, this line would be finished and operated by 2015. However, only the concrete abutments along road route from the depot, Nhon, Ho Tung Mau, Cau Giay and Xuan Thuy and some stations have just executed. The underground stations from Kim Ma to Hanoi Station have not been implemented. The difficulties facing are site clearance and slow works of main packages.
The series of delays led the consulting contract extended. Hanoi People’s Committee and Consultant Systra (France) all agreed to expand the project to November 2018. This time extension will increase the consulting fee about € 27.3 million (€ 20.8 million for Man-Month contract and € 6.5 million for Lump-sum contract) compared to the initial bill. It is not small damage for government finance, leading project total capital increase.
The elevated railway segment Cat Linh – Ha Dong is the third line in the Hanoi urban railway system. This line has been invested by Chinese ODA of $ 419 million and the counterpart fund of $ 133.86 million. The Cat Linh-Ha Dong elevated railway, which will stretch over 13 km, will have 12 stations and a depot linking Dong Da District's Cat Linh Street and Ha Dong District's Yen Nghia bus station. The project would be commercially exploited in December 2015 as per schedule. Nevertheless, there still are many disorders while it is pushed back to December 2016.
During construction, series of incident have occurred, influencing to safety of traffic participants. The slowness of Chinese contractors has caused the Capital an unkempt landscaping, pollution and unsafe. Although the capital has been increased by $ 300 million, many items have not been speeded up. Citizens are wondering whether they will have the sky-train to travel at the end of 2016, or they have to suffer from pollution and unsafe for a few more years?
