Frankreich zahlt und Alstom baut! Ist natürlich kein Firmensubvention, sondern Entwicklungshilfe für Vietnam ;-)
Hanoi:Light rail tramway project gets go-ahead 22/2/2005
The Viet Nam News Agency (2005/02/19) reports that the proposed project to build an "experimental tramway system" in Vietnam's capital city of Hanoi has at last been given approval by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai. The article reports that approval "in principle" came on Wednesday, 16 February. (See also our earlier article, Hanoi moves to install a light rail tramway system...While it eyes elevated rapid transit.)
The 14.5-km (9.0-mile) starter system is projected to cost €420 million (US$508 million), or about $34 million/km ($56 million/mile). Planned to be partly funded by the French government and built with French technology, the tramway will link Hanoi's Cau Dien area with the Hanoi Railway Station, and connect the areas of Cau Dien, Cau Giay, Quoc Tu Giam wards, Kim Ma, and Giang Van Minh streets.
The tramway section from the Cau Dien area (on the west side of Hanoi) to Cat Linh Street will have a 1.5-km underground section (which helps account for the somewhat higher average unit cost of this project). The line will connect a number of key locations, including Kim Ma bus station, Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature), and the Hanoi Railway Station, on the way to the Hanoi Opera House, according to Nguyen Quoc Trieu, Mayor of the Hanoi People’s Committee. The Hanoi People’s Committee itself has been assigned to conduct a study, including the collection of opinions from relevant ministries and agencies, and to submit a feasibility evaluation to the Prime Minister for consideration. To carry out the project, the ministries of Planning and Investment, Finance, the Hanoi People’s Committee, and the French partners will work out details of credit provision, equipment, supply, and other conditions.
According to the French consultancy firm Systra, the tramway line will use advanced light rail transit (LRT) technology to save energy and comply with environment protection conditions. Scheduled to be completed in 2010, the tramway is expected to transport 9,000 to 10,000 passengers per hour one-way and will be the point of convergence for eight other tramways proposed in the city’s development plan for 2020, according to Trieu. That will interconnect with other major public transport services also being installed. The director of Hanoi's Transport and Public Work Deparment, Pham Quoc Truong, said his department was planning a transport network with one metro and five elevated railways that will be able to carry 160 million passenger-trips a year by 2015.
All told, it looks like Hanoi is on track to become a showcase of modern LRT tramway technology and other state-of-the-art standard-rail transit technology currently under development among emerging Third World cities |