HCMC – The HCMC government has allowed the Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR) to hire a domestic firm as bidding consultant for the design and inspection package of the city’s second metro line project.
MAUR deputy head Nguyen Van Quoc said hiring a local enterprise would help the city reduce costs after the city had to revise capital for the first metro route. He was confident the job could be done well by local enterprises, he said.
The organization will advance money from its operation expenditure to cover hiring charges. Selection of the consultant would be completed within this year and the city would begin the package in early 2011.
Construction of the metro line, starting from the planned Ben Thanh Terminal in District 1 and ending in Tham Luong Depot in District 12, began in August at a total cost of VND23.6 trillion. It was funded by official development assistance (ODA) loans of the Asian Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, and German development bank KfW, as well as the government budget.
The 11.3 kilometer first phase will include a one-kilometer feeder line leading to the Tham Luong Depot, 9.3 kilometers of underground track and almost one kilometer of elevated track. The project will be implemented from 2011 to 2015 and start operating in 2016.
