The package, which includes the construction of elevated railway tracks and depots, was awarded to two contractors, Sumitomo and CIENCO 6, and is scheduled to be completed in 235 weeks.
The Ben Thanh – Suoi Tien metro line will be 19.7 kilometres long, with 2.2 kilometres of underground tracks and 17.5 kilometres of elevated line. It includes three subterranean and eleven elevated stations.
The other two packages include the construction of an underground railway and the provision of electrical and maintenance equipment.
The first metro line, scheduled to be completed in 2018, is expected to help ease traffic congestion and reduce environmental pollution in Ho Chi Minh City.
The total cost of the project is VND47 trillion VND (US$2.256 billion), with funding provided by the State and Japan’s official development assistance.