Hitachi, Ltd. today announced that it entered into an order contract with Management Authority for Urban Railways of the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City for the construction of Vietnam’s first urban railway in Ho Chi Minh City (between Ben Thanh – Suoi Tien “Line 1″). The contract carries a total value of approximately 37 billion yen.
In Vietnam, the rapid increase in traffic volumes resulting from economic growth has become a serious issue, and public transportation is expected to contribute to resolving traffic congestion and protecting the environment. Under this circumstance, the Vietnamese government has made plans for the construction of several urban railways in Ho Chi Minh City. This project represents the first phase of these plans.
Line 1 is a new urban railway scheduled to begin operations in early 2018. Plans call for the construction of a railway track with a total length of 19.7 km (including both underground and elevated tracks) connecting the center of Ho Chi Minh City with North-East gateway of the city, where there are bus terminals towards northern provinces. Hitachi is to deliver subsystems including 17 train sets (total: 51 cars), signaling system, telecommunication system including wireless train radio system, and power supply system, as well as platform screen doors, automatic fare collection system, and depot facilities. Hitachi is also scheduled to undertake five years maintenance work after the start of commercial operations, of which details is to be stipulated in the separate agreement at later stage.
This project represents Vietnam’s first full-scale urban railway project, and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has pledged to provide Special Terms for Economic Partnership (STEP) ODA.
Hitachi will continue activities aimed at expanding business opportunities for the many urban railways currently being planned in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Vietnam. Hitachi will also accelerate the global rollout of its rail business, in an effort to further expand sales activities for urban railway projects in Vietnam and other countries in Southeast Asia.
Press Release of Hitachi, 11 June 2013
