Expect traffic woes for the foreseeable future due to metro construction.
According to VnExpress, the Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board (MRB) has blocked off sections of two major streets starting Sunday for work on the Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station metro line, the second route of the new system.
A stretch of Kim Ma Street running 120 meters from Nui Truc to Lieu Giai streets is now closed and will remain so for nearly two years. Elsewhere, a 195-meter section of Quoc Tu Giam Street will be closed for about one year.
The Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station metro line will cover 12.5 kilometers from Nam Tu Liem District to the central rail station on Le Duan Street. Eight stations will be above ground, and much of the elevated section is complete, while the four underground stations are expected to open in 2023.
Work began on the second line in 2010, with the route originally set to begin operating in 2017. The initial estimated cost was US$1.2 billion, but this has since risen to US$1.55 billion. It has been an arduous journey for the first metro line, too. In February 2017, it was announced that trial runs would begin in October of that year and that trains would be up and running by the first quarter of 2018. However, we all know how that turned out.
It was then hoped the line would open in April this year. China Railway Sixth Group Co., Ltd. began conducting tests on the tracks last September. Three to six months is the normal amount of time spent on trial runs. Some sections of the tracks, such as pathways and terminals, however, remain unfinished, and so opening the track has been further delayed.
