This is also the goal that Ho Chi Minh City is pursuing: in the next 10 years, metro will cover every corner, meeting all travel needs of residents and tourists.
Metro line No. 1 Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien runs on December 23, 2024. By 2035, Ho Chi Minh City is expected to complete 7 metro lines with a total length of 355 km.
Photo: Nhat Thinh - Graphics: Bao Nguyen
By 2035, Ho Chi Minh City will have 355 km of metro.
On Monday morning (December 23), as usual, Mr. Nguyen Tuan Hai (living in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City) woke up early to prepare for the more than 15 km journey from his home to the High-Tech Park (Thu Duc City). However, instead of lazily pushing his motorbike and preparing to "fight" the traffic jams and dust on the road like usual, today Mr. Hai went to work by metro.
“A wonderful experience. Normally, it takes me about 45 minutes to ride a motorbike if there is no traffic jam, but today it only takes about 20 minutes by metro, saving half the time. The train is clean, leaves early with less people, and the seats are spacious and comfortable. So from now on, I no longer have to start a tiring, sluggish workday because of riding a motorbike like before,” Hai excitedly shared.
Mr. Nguyen Tuan Hai (residing in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City)
On the early train, there were quite a few office workers traveling from Thu Duc City to the city center, then spreading out to other places by bus or other public transport. In the opposite direction, many people from districts such as: 8, 3, 1... also took the bus to the central station, then boarded the train to travel to places along Hanoi Highway to work. Notably, there were quite a few students from Ho Chi Minh City using the metro to go to universities in Thu Duc.
This has been the dream of many generations of students over the past 10 years, and is also the goal that the Ho Chi Minh City transportation industry is aiming for. As Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Bui Xuan Cuong said at the historic moment of announcing the official operation of urban railway line No. 1 (Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien): "This project marks the realization of the process of building a sustainable public transport system, meeting the needs of fast and efficient travel for people, contributing to reducing congestion and environmental pollution. In the next phase, Ho Chi Minh City will continue to prioritize, focus on investing and synchronously developing urban railway lines in the planning, strongly developing according to the TOD model, aiming to build the city into a smart, modern, sustainable city in the future, a symbol of innovation, connection and civilization".
Ho Chi Minh City residents use metro line 1 Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien
In the next phase mentioned by Mr. Bui Xuan Cuong, Ho Chi Minh City proposed to invest in 7 metro lines about 355 km long, to be completed by 2035, with an investment capital of about 40.21 billion USD. By 2045, an additional 155 km will be completed, bringing the total length of urban railway to about 510 km.
Previously, according to Decision No. 568 issued by the Prime Minister in 2013 on approving the adjustment of the Transport Development Plan of Ho Chi Minh City to 2020 and vision after 2020, the city only set the goal of building 8 metro lines, 3 tram lines or monorail with a total length of about 220 km. With this adjustment of the plan, some lines have been redirected and extended.
For example, Route 1, which is only 19.7 km long from Ben Thanh to Suoi Tien, is now proposed to be extended on both sides to become Long Binh – Ben Thanh – An Ha Depot, 40.8 km long. Route 4 is now merged from Routes 4 and 4b according to the old planning, connecting directly from Dong Thanh (Hoc Mon District) to Hiep Phuoc Urban Area and is adjusted to run through Tan Son Nhat Airport…
Let the metro take people to work, school, play, go to the market...
Explaining the planning adjustment, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hien, Deputy Head of the HCM City Urban Railway Management Board (MAUR), said that in the near future, the HCM City urban area will add satellite cities such as Di An, Thu Dau Mot, Nhon Trach, Long Thanh, Ben Luc, etc., bringing the population to around 20 million people. Such a megacity with only 220 km of urban railway planning is too modest. With the same scale, cities in the world such as Tokyo (Japan), Beijing (China), Seoul (Korea), etc. must have a thousand km long urban railway system to ensure that the proportion of public transport accounts for about 50 - 70% of people's daily travel needs. The planning according to Decision 568 sets a target that by 2035, this proportion in HCM City will be about 40 - 50%, so the length of urban railway must increase 2 - 3 times the planning.
Not to mention, the metro in the future also needs to be extended from Ho Chi Minh City to Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Long An, etc., creating seamless connections to satellite urban areas. The adjusted and extended metro lines will also be integrated with the national railway network, connecting to Binh Trieu and Di An stations, etc.; "hubs", major traffic hubs such as Long Thanh airport, Tan Kien terminal station of the Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho high-speed railway, Can Gio coastal urban area, Tan Son Nhat airport, etc.
Metro train number 1 runs on December 23
According to Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hien, the planning mindset in the years 2008-2013 was very different, always following the development of the city. We shaped the residential areas and then built the connecting railways. Therefore, the project implementation process was very difficult and costly because urbanization took place quickly and continuously. Currently, planning is oriented to ensure the leadership of urban development, creating resources for urban development.
Instead of "crashing" into densely populated residential areas and spending "huge" amounts of money to compensate for land, metro lines will have their stations adjusted to public land to facilitate land clearance, while also creating a larger area of land around the stations.
For example, lines 2 (Ben Thanh - Tham Luong), 4 (Thanh Xuan - Hiep Phuoc urban area) or 5 (Bay Hien intersection - Saigon bridge) if only run within the urban area, the cost of compensation for land clearance to build stations will be very high. If these lines are extended to public land funds in Cu Chi, Nha Be, Hoc Mon, Binh Chanh, etc., it will be very easy to form new urban areas along the lines. Even the route direction in the inner city area can also adjust the location of stations with similar orientation.
In addition, the previous planning did not fully calculate the convenience of future route exploitation. Some semi-circular routes such as routes 5 and 6 (Ba Queo - Phu Lam roundabout) are too short, and will not be effective when put into operation. Or route 3b (Cong Hoa - Hiep Binh Phuoc intersection) connecting route 3a (Ben Thanh - Tan Kien); route 4b (Gia Dinh - Lang Cha Ca) is also not reasonable, and needs to be adjusted to increase the ability to attract customers.
In general, some areas in the inner city (Tan Phu District, Binh Tan District, Thu Duc City...) have low railway density. The distance from residential areas to stations is still quite far. To make it easier for people to access, it is necessary to add new routes with higher density to reduce travel distance, ensuring that people can travel from 800 m to 1 km (about 10 minutes on foot) to reach a metro station. Japan or Singapore also have to cover a dense metro network to ensure such access conditions.
“One day not far away, a tourist on Bui Vien Western Street will easily go from the “Thai Binh Market” station of Line 2 to the city center to have breakfast, enjoy Saigon coffee, then take Line 4 at Ben Thanh station to go to the Youth Cultural House station, visit Notre Dame Cathedral, Independence Palace and War Museum. After lunch, continue on Line 4 to Phu Nhuan station, transfer to Line 5 to Ba Chieu Market station, stop to burn incense at Ong Lang, learn more about the formation of Gia Dinh land, then continue to Tan Cang station, stop by Landmark 81 to shop, have dinner, before taking Line 1 train to Nguyen Hue walking street to enjoy the city's nightlife activities. In general, the metro will have to cover all routes, combined with a bus network to every corner, helping people and especially tourists easily and conveniently access historical and cultural relics, commercial centers, and services of the city," Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hien shared.
Thanhnien.vn
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mang-luoi-metro-tphcm-trong-tuong-lai-nhu-the-nao-185241223233032663.htm
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