However, municipal authorities in the country’s main economic driver have yet to announce whether they will select contractors through bids or appointments.

CNT hopes to build a 23km-long rail route connecting downtown’s Ben Thanh Market with the outlying districts of Thu Duc and Bien Hoa.

According to the proposal, the group will use the build Build-Operate-Transfer model on the US$1.15 billion project; and expects to wrap up work within the allotted 2012-2014 deadline.

The route is part of a general plan for the HCMC urban railway network which was approved by the Prime Minister in late 2008. Total construction costs for the network will come in at $7.504 billion, and is slated for completion by 2020.

HCMC’s first metro route will connect Ben Thanh Market and District 9’s Suoi Tien cultural park. Work is already underway on the 19.7-kilometer-long stretch, which is expected to cost $118 million.

The second and the fourth stages will also start at Ben Thanh, but connect Go Vap District and District 2’s Thu Thiem Peninsula respectively.

The remaining two sections include the 20-kilometer fifth route from Can Giuoc bus station in District 8 to Thu Thiem Peninsula in District 2; and the sixth route to start at Ba Queo intersection in Tan Binh District and end at Phu Lam crossroad in District 6.

As planned, work will wrap up on two of the six routes by 2010. The metro should cut 25 percent of the 4.2 million motorbike usage rate currently clogging the city’s roads. That number is expected to fall by half again by 2020 when all six routes become operational.

Source: Vietnews