The Asian Development Bank (ADB) got the ball rolling on the Hanoi Metro Line Three project earlier this month when it signed a USD 293M loan with Hanoi People’s Committee. Some 3.6km of Line Three will be underground with 8.9km of elevated track.
ADB country director for Vietnam Tomoyuki Kimura said, “The metro rail project will support efforts of Hanoi’s authorities to solve traffic congestion more efficiently and substantially reduce green house gas emissions, ensuring the capital’s sustainable socioeconomic development.”
The Line Three project, which has also received funding from the French government and the European Investment Bank should be completed by 2015. Kimura said that the ADB saw a dependence on private vehicles, with many families owning three or four motorcycles. Projections have been made that predict a switchover to cars as incomes in Vietnam increase, which would worsen the congestion.
