HCM City speeds up work on first bus rapid transit route
The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has urged the city’s Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR), the Management Board for Traffic Works Construction and Investment and relevant agencies to speed up implementation of the first bus rapid transit route (BRT No 1), which will connect with Metro Line No 1.
A model of a station on HCM City’s first bus rapid transit route (Photo courtesy of UCCI)
HCMCity (VNS/VNA) - The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee hasurged the city’s Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR),the Management Board for Traffic Works Construction and Investment andrelevant agencies to speed up implementation ofthe first bus rapid transit route (BRT No 1), whichwill connect with Metro Line No 1.
TheBRT No 1 route will help users access the metro line whenit opens, and will expand the use of public transport by cityresidents.
TheBRT No 1 project was approved by the Prime Minister in 2013, with initial costsof nearly 156 million USD. The cost was reduced to 143 million USD,with funding from Official Development Assistance (ODA) fromthe World Bank and the city’s State budget.
Constructionbegan in 2014 and was initially expected to be completed in2019, but the completion date has been extendedto 2023.
The29-km BRT No 1 will run along Vo Van Kiet - Mai Chi Tho Highway, across the SaiGon River and connect with Hanoi Highway.
Itwill pass through districts Binh Chanh, Binh Tan, 6, 5, 1 and 2, starting fromthe An Lac Roundabout and ending at Cat Lai Intersection.
Therewill be about 30 buses using compressed natural gas (CNG) on theroute, which will interchange with the proposed metro lines No 1, 2,3A and 5.
Thisis one of six BRT routes planned by the city government.
The19.7km metro line No 1 between Ben Thanh Market in District 1and Suoi Tien Theme Park in District 9 runs along the Hanoi Highway.
Theline is the first of planned eight metro lines in the city. It will have14 stations, including three underground stations.
Therewill be 17 trains with three carriages each that will run at a maximum speed of110km per hour above ground and 80km per hour below ground.
Eighty-fivepercent of the project, worth more than 43.7 trillion VND (1.9 billion USD),is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Constructionis slated to finish by the end of 2021. Thefirst three-carriage train for the line arrived fromJapan in October and is being tested at Long Binh Depot in District 9.
Thecity’s Department of Transport is working with MAUR and relevant units topropose ticket rates for metro line No 1’s firststage of operation./.
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A model of a station on HCM City’s first bus rapid transit route (Photo courtesy of UCCI) 
