China backed Vietnam's first urban railway enters service
The Hanoi Metro Line 2A, originally scheduled to open in 2015, was delayed by 12 project reevaluations and over two years of safety checks. (photo by Tomoya Onishi) © Photo by Tomoya Onishi
TOMOYA ONISHI, Nikkei staff writer
November 6, 2021 19:30 JST
HANOI -- Vietnam's first urban railway, a roughly $900 million project backed by China, began service in Hanoi on Saturday, following long delays for safety checks and to secure the land needed.
The Hanoi Metro Line 2A, construction on which started in 2011, is a 13 km, 12-station rail line between Cat Linh and Yen Nghia in central Hanoi. Vietnam paid for much of the project with official development assistance from China. China Railway Sixth Group, a subsidiary of China Railway Group, handled the line's engineering, procurement and construction.
"I have been waiting for this day for a long time. I think it will become more convenient to move around the city," said one 55-year-old Hanoi resident who rode the train.
Each train consists of four cars and can transport around 900 passengers. The train has a maximum speed of 80 kph. Traveling the entire line takes about 23 minutes.
The railway was originally scheduled to enter commercial service in 2015. According to local media, the construction plan went through 12 reevaluations and even after all the facilities were nearly complete, safety checks took over two years.
A one-way trip on the line costs between 40 and 70 cents. The City of Hanoi will open the line to citizens free of charge for the first 15 days of service.
Vietnam is working on other urban rail road projects as well. In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's southern commercial capital, Hitachi and other Japanese companies are helping with construction of a rail line, while another in Hanoi has financial backing from France and the Asian Development Bank.
China-backed $900m commuter line in Hanoi opens after 6 year-delay
asia.nikkei.com
It took so long time (13 years) and too expensive to a short railway. Most of VNese think that its a trick from CN to VN to slow down our economic growth
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'Stuck' at Cat Linh - Ha Dong railway: 'Need to clarify whether the plot was bribed'?
ECONOMY Tuesday, September 24, 2019 11:23:00 +07:00
The question of the motives and responsibilities of those involved in the mistakes that caused the Cat Linh - Ha Dong project to be capital and slow progress is being raised by experts.
The Cat Linh - Ha Dong elevated railway project is about 13km long, implemented in 2008 and expected to be completed in 2013. However, after 11 years of approval, 8 years of construction and 10 times behind schedule, until now. The project does not yet know when it will finish.
Not only is the progress unclear, the project is also capitalized by more than 205%, from VND 8,769 billion to VND 18,000 billion, an increase of VND 9,231 billion. The continuous delay caused the project to pay thousands of billion dong of loan interest to its Chinese partner (about 1.2 billion dong per day if the preferential interest rate is 3%/year).
What's the motive behind "knowing how to do it"?
The State Audit said that the teaming of capital, the long delay in progress, the fault was largely due to the General Contractor of China EPC, but for many errors in the appraisal, bidding, approval and adjustment, it was a great responsibility of the State Audit. The transportation.
cat-ling-ha-dong3
The Cat Linh - Ha Dong railway project itself raised the total investment of VND 8,769 billion to VND 18,001 billion without reporting it to the Prime Minister.
Answering VTC News on the afternoon of September 23 about this scandalous project, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngo Tri Long, former director of the Institute for Price Market Research (Ministry of Finance) said: "It must be said that this is a cancer, a problem. problems in Vietnam's public investment. The project was not implemented according to the procedures, the capital was terrible, the time was long, generated many consequences, causing frustration among the people…”.
In addition to the obvious economic damage, there are also extremely large but unmeasurable social impacts, such as traffic congestion, a decrease in people's confidence in the management agency or image reputation. national image in the eyes of international friends.
“The project not only requires a large capital but also a time to complete, so far it is not clear when it will finish, so it has a great negative impact both in terms of economy and society. Money loss is seen by everyone, but there are even bigger damages that cannot be measured in money,” Assoc.Prof.Dr. Long acknowledged.
According to the Ministry of Transport, the project has been "basically completed", only 1% of construction items such as escalator roofs, landscaping systems, trees... However, Mr. Long said. that “there is 1% left unfinished but maybe this 1% will never be completed because at present it is very difficult to assess the project safety”.
Regarding the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport, Mr. Long said that all the defects of the project have been pointed out, but the problem is to be responsible and take measures to meet the expectations of the project. citizen.
“The project is behind schedule, the main responsibility of the main contractor - China Railway Group 6 Group Co., Ltd - EPC general contractor. However, they are only contractors, ie employees. So where is the responsibility of the investor - Railway project management board, Ministry of Transport? Why is the EPC general contractor constantly being late for the appointment, but we just accept without any tough action?", asked Mr. Long.
Regarding the responsibility of the people involved when "knowing the loss, they still do it" Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngo Tri Long said that there should be an inspection to clarify the cause, and at the same time specify the responsibility of each individual, not slander. "beat the drums with the drumsticks".
“When you know that the assessment is not effective, but you still decide to do it at all costs, what is the purpose? Is there any self-interest? Determining the motive is difficult, but it is necessary to clarify whether those who have a decisive voice are bribed?”, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngo Tri Long frankly stated.
Be careful with Chinese loans
Dr. Le Dang Doanh, former director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, acknowledged that this is a very painful lesson and we need to be very careful in borrowing money from China to avoid repeating the same lesson.
“The Cat Linh – Ha Dong railway suffered from capital shortages and was delayed for such a long time mainly due to the mistake of choosing a Chinese contractor who had never built a railway. Because we borrow money from China, they have the right to appoint contractors, appoint supervisors, and now we have to bear the consequences," said Mr. Doanh.
Câu hỏi về động cơ, trách nhiệm của những người liên quan tới các sai phạm khiến dự án Cát Linh - Hà Đông đội vốn, chậm tiến độ đang được các chuyên gia đặt ra.
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