ADB lends US$293m for Hanoi metro line project
HANOI, Oct 13 — The Asian Development Bank signed an agreement with Vietnam today to lend US$293 million (RM918.26 million) for building a metro line to reduce traffic jams in Hanoi, the bank said in a statement.
The 12.5-km metro line will connect the main railway station in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital, with an outlying district, a project also funded by France and the European Investment Bank, the ADB said.
Once completed in 2015, the metro line would initially transport more than 150,000 people a day, and almost 500,000 on a daily basis by 2030.
It gave no details on the loan terms.
Rising income that allows city residents to switch to using cars, coupled with a population expected to grow to 8 million by 2025, will worsen Hanoi’s traffic and increase air pollution.
“The metro rail project will support efforts by Hanoi’s authorities to solve traffic congestion more efficiently and substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” ADB Country Director for Vietnam Tomoyuki Kimura said in the statement. — Reuters
