London undergrounds

/ February 9, 2021

Decade on, Saigon’s underground parking lots remain on paper

They were to be built in the heart of District 1 and operate along with other commercial services.One of them was a VND900-billion ($38.7 million) lot at the Trong Dong Theater.Hanoi construction firm Dong Duong Group was first licensed to build it near the Saigon Opera House in 2008 but was told to move it to the Trong Dong theater, more than one km away, because it could affect construction of one of the metro line stations.The company planned to build a 5,300-square-meter lot with seven levels below ground and three above to hold more than 700 cars and 400 motorbikes.But as the work failed to start for a long time, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment proposed in 2018 that the city should reappropriate the land. Trong Dong Theature where one of the underground parking lots of HCMC was supposed to go up, January 20201. Photo by VnExpress/Gia Minh. The developer complained that after it had completed design evaluation the city announced that part of the project overlaps with the metro line No.2 between Ben Thanh and Tham Luong in District 12 while the Planning and Architecture Department wanted it to earmark the first floor for community activities.But in July last year the city instructed Dong Duong to resume work, warning it should start by June 2021 and finish by the end of 2022, failing which the land would be taken back.But there has been zero progress so far.In 2019 a $110-million plan to build a parking lot beneath Le Van Tam Park was scrapped after a 10-year delay.It was meant to accommodate 2,000 motorbikes, 1,250 cars, and 28 buses and trucks on an area of 100,000 square meters.The project broke ground in 2010, but stalled soon after. Le Van Tam Park from above, January 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran. According to the Department of Transport, many important requirements were not fulfilled, including getting construction permits and evaluating technical designs.In 2012 the investor completed the basic design. It then sought to make …

/ September 10, 2020

Second level of underground station S9 of Hanoi’s second metro line completed

The Hanoitimes - Station S9 is a component of the first underground metro project in the capital city and the second one in Vietnam. A representative of the Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Board (MRB) on September 9 said that the second level of underground station S9 of Hanoi’s second metro line, Nhon-Hanoi Railway, has been completed, Kinh Te & Do Thi reported. Nhon-Hanoi Railway has four underground stations: S9, S10, S11 and S12. The main level of Station S9 is under construction to connect up to the streets or down to the platforms via elevators. Station S9’s main level is 19 meters below the ground. It is 23.3 meters wide, 186.6 meters long. Its construction is expected to be completed in about five months, and works on the whole station will be finished in late 2020. The S9 station is the first underground metro project which has been carried out in the capital city and the second one in Vietnam (after the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line in Ho Chi Minh City). The Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station route is 12.5 kilometers long from Nhon area in the western district of Nam Tu Liem, running along Kim Ma street to the Hanoi Railway Station in the downtown. The total cost of the project has been revised up to EUR1.176 billion. Of the total, EUR178.7 million is funded with ODA provided by the French Development Agency (AFD) and EUR355.1 million is lent by the French government. It is one of several metro lines planned for the capital city to ease traffic congestion and reduce emissions. The followings are photos taken at underground station S9: S9 is the first of four underground stations to be built on the line and located in the Kim Ma - Nguyen Chi Thanh junction. Work on Station S9 has advanced the most among the four underground stations. The construction is often carried out at night, thus it makes no negative impact on traffic flow on the route or the urban landscape. Currently, parts of a Tunnel …

/ May 18, 2020

Underground station S9 of Hanoi’s second metro line concreted

The Hanoitimes - Work on Station S9 has advanced the most among the four underground stations. Nhon - Hanoi station Railway, Hanoi’s second metro line after the Cat Linh-Ha Dong, has four underground stations: S9, 10, 11 and 12. The main level of Station S9 has just been concreted to connect up to the streets or down to the platforms via elevators, Kinhtedothi.vn reported. S9 is the first of four underground stations to be built on the route and located in the Kim Ma - Nguyen Chi Thanh junction. “The concreted surface is the transfer floor and it has the two functions of picking up and seeing off passengers. Ticket counters and installing automatic ticketing devices will be installed here,” said Le Trung Hieu, deputy head of the Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Board (MRB). Work on Station S9 has advanced the most among the four underground stations. The construction is often carried out at night, thus it makes no negative impact on traffic flow on the route as well as the urban landscape. According to the MRB’s leader, during the Covid-19 pandemic, construction of the Nhon - Hanoi Railway Station line continued with three shifts per day. Workers have made efforts to comply with the epidemic prevention measures and ensure the project’s progress. It is expected that by the end of June 2020, the construction of concrete transfer floor will be completed. “After more than a month of excavation, we have cleared the underground terrain. As scheduled, this underground station will be finished by 2022,” Hieu said. Construction of this project was started on October 10, 2010. According to the MRB, the project’s first 8.5 km of the elevated tracks will be inaugurated in April 2021, then the remaining 4 km of the underground stretch will be completed in December 2022 and the entire line is expected to become operational by that time. The total cost of the project has been revised up to EUR1.176 billion. Of the total, EUR178.7 million was sourced from ODA funding …