ADB Helps Hanoi Ease Traffic Congestion

The Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Board of Directors has approved a US$293 million loan to support a US$1 billion metro rail project in Hanoi.

 

The new rail link will stretch from Hanoi's main railway station in Hoan Kiem district to Nhon, in Tu Liem district, 12.5 km to the west. The ADB-supported rail line is scheduled to be completed in 2015. Over 150,000 people a day are expected to use it initially, with the number rising to almost half a million a day by 2030.

 

The line, also funded by the Government of France and the European Investment Bank, is one of four priority metro lines planned for the capital's metropolitan area. Hanoi’s Urban Transport Master Plan aims to get half the city using public transport by 2020.

 

ADB already approved a separate loan in support of a metro line in Ho Chi Minh City earlier this year, bringing ADB's total support for urban metro rail development in Viet Nam to US$833 million.