ADB Helps HCM City to Ease Gridlock

The Asian Development Bank's (ADB's) Board of Directors has approved a US$1.1 billion finance package for two major transportation projects in Vietnam that will help unclog Ho Chi Minh City's overcrowded roadways.

 

ADB will provide US$540 million towards a US$1.4 billion project to construct a second mass transit line in Ho Chi Minh City, and an additional US$636 million for a US$1.6 billion project to construct a modern expressway to the south of the city.

 

The 11.3-kilometre metro rail line will stretch from Ben Thanh in central Ho Chi Minh City, near the city's largest market, out past the Tan Son Nhat International Airport to Tham Luong. 9.3 kilometres of the mass transit line will run underground, with 2 kilometres of elevated and transition track.

 

Approximately 213,000 passenger loadings per day are expected during the first year of operation in 2017, rising to 300,000 per day by 2020 and over 700,000 daily loadings by 2035. The metro rail will reduce travel time along the corridor by 20 % from 2010 levels, with traffic accidents expected to fall by 30 %.