HCM City (VNA) – HCM City’s Urban Railway Management Board hassubmitted a plan to the municipal People’s Committee to link the urban railwaysystem underground with high-rise buildings, apartments and shopping complexes.

“The connections will bring huge benefits forthe city, investors and local residents,” a representative of the managementboard was quoted as saying in the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

HCM City’s Architecture Department said thecity had agreed to the proposal to link the urban railway system withunderground constructions.

“After the city opens its public undergroundspace in Ben ThanhMetro Station and the metro, underground connections will be in high demand,”Nguyen Dinh Hung, deputy director of theArchitecture Department, said.

“At first, the city will focus on masteringunderground public spaces and encourage investors to link their constructionwith the metro system,” he added.

The No 1 metro line from BenThanh in District 1 to Suoi Tienin District 9 is the first project of an “underground master plan”, the firstto be built in the country.

HCM City has asked the Prime Ministerto agree to the use of ODA to build public underground works beneath Ben ThanhTrade Centre under Le Loi street.

The trade centre will have a length of 515 m andan area of 45,000 sq.m, with a total investment of 6.9 trillion VND (302 million USD).

The trade centre will also be connected to othertrade centres and high-rise buildings downtown, especially those on Le Loiand Nguyen Hue streets and around BenThanh Market.

At the BenThanh metro station, six exitswill be built to help receive customers and passengers from roads to theunderground space.

The management board said that all eight metrolines should be built as underground stations along with shopping centres, as away to effectively use capital.

“The local government should announce thespecific positions of underground metro stations. This will help attractinvestors willing to build underground trade centres,” an official from themanagement board said.

“The city has instructed the ArchitectureDepartment to complete the underground master plan. This is one solution toease traffic congestion,” Hungsaid.

The Architecture Department has excludedunderground construction of houses, schools, hospitals, hotels, dormitories,theaters, exhibitions and stores.

"Right now, the master plan for undergroundspace has become urgent. The Department will focus on downtown first, and thenexpand to the whole city,” Hungsaid.

Meanwhile, the Transport Department plans tobuild 18 underground parking plots due to lack of land. Construction has begunon four of the lots.

Many investors have suggested building bothparking plots and trade centres underground. Most of them plan to use 30 – 50percent of the parking plot areas as sites for shopping centres.

For example, at an underground parking plot in Le Van Tam Park, four floors forparking will be built with 1,260 cars, 2,000 motorbikes, and three undergroundshopping floors with a total area of 33,000 sq.m.-VNA