The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has assigned the Vietnam Bank forIndustry and Trade (Vietinbank) to arrange funds for the Hanoi RailwayStation – Nhon urban metro rail project (line 3).

According to the SBV, Vietinbank will arrange a total of 783 million EUR (1.01billion USD ) towards the project.

Financing includes 293 million EUR (381 million USD) from the AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB), 250 million EUR (325 million USD) in OfficialDevelopment Assistance (ODA) from the French Government, 110 million EUR(143 million USD) in ODA from the French Development Agency (AFD), 73million EUR (94.9 million USD) in ODA from the European Investment Bank(EIB) and 130 million EUR (169 million USD) from the Hanoi City budget.

The 12.5 km route will include 8.5 km of elevated track connecting theNhon depot with Thu Le Park and 4 km of underground track connecting ThuLe with Hanoi Railway Station.

The Hanoi MetropolitanRail Transport Project Board (HRB) will oversee the project, which willinclude a viaduct, power supply stations and a depot.

Expected to become operational in 2015, the line will carry 150,000 passengers per day, to increase to 500,000 by 2030.

The metro project is part of a Vietnam Ministry of Transport masterplan aimed at reducing the use of private transport to enhance the urbanenvironment. -VNA