At the beginning of July, 7, at the meeting between the leaders of Ho Chi Minh City and the Southeast provinces, the Department of Transport and Communications of Ho Chi Minh City presented a plan to extend the HCMC urban railway line No. 2023 (metro line 1) to Dong Nai and Binh Duong.
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| The extension of metro line 1 to Dong Nai and Binh Duong is necessary to strengthen regional connectivity. Photo: CTV |
The extension of metro line 1 is also the desire of Dong Nai and Binh Duong provinces.
* Necessary extension of metro line 1
According to the Department of Transport and Communications of Ho Chi Minh City, regarding the policy of studying the extension of metro line No. 1 to Dong Nai and Binh Duong provinces, Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces have agreed on the need for investment and route options.
For Dong Nai, in March 3, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 2017/QD-UBND approving the master plan on development of transport and communication in Dong Nai province up to 615 and orientation to 2020. Accordingly, the province included the urban railway construction planning, the route connecting Bien Hoa City with Ho Chi Minh City. Currently, Ho Chi Minh City is building metro line No. 2030 from Ben Thanh to Suoi Tien, so studying to extend metro line 1 by about 1km from Suoi Tien station to Cho Sat junction.
On that basis, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport and Communications has studied the route plan to extend metro line No. 1 to Dong Nai and Binh Duong provinces.
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Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport and Communications recommends Dong Nai and Binh Duong provinces to review the planning of routes, locations of stations and depots, including the necessary adjustment of related plans; projected areas for TOD (Transit-Oriented Development - urban development in the direction of public transport planning with high capacity and high frequency). At the same time, the provinces also organized the preparation of pre-feasibility study reports of urban railway branches in each area.
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Specifically, about the route of section 1 (the common section) will be from Suoi Tien bus station (under construction, belonging to metro line 1 of Ho Chi Minh City), the route continues to go overhead on the right of National Highway 1 and then crosses to the left to Binh Thang station (symbol S0) in front of Tan Van intersection in Binh Thang ward (Di An city, Binh Duong province), this section is about 1,8km.
From here, two independent branch lines will run to Dong Nai and Binh Duong provinces.
Section 2 will include 2 branches, of which branch 1 is heading to Dong Nai with a length of about 18,3km, going overhead. Branch 2, towards Binh Duong with a length of nearly 30km, goes on high. The remaining section at the end of the route, about 13,3km in length, will follow the planning of Binh Duong province.
Regarding the route plan, the section from Suoi Tien bus station to Binh Thang station (S0) is located entirely in the territory of Binh Duong province. However, the Department of Transport and Communications of Ho Chi Minh City will consider and advise the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City on plans to coordinate, support and contribute necessary investment capital. This segment necessarily needs to be invested in order to continue to deploy the next segments and branches.
According to Director of the Department of Transport and Communications Le Quang Binh, the province has not yet formed urban railway lines. Therefore, the planning and investment in building urban railway lines connecting with Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong will greatly reduce the load on the road traffic system.
* Pre-invest part of branch 1
In the plan proposed by the Department of Transport and Communications of Ho Chi Minh City, the extension of the railway to Dong Nai province has changed compared to the previous proposal of the Provincial People's Committee.
Accordingly, the extended route in the province will reach the area of Ho Nai 3 commune (Trang Bom district) instead of the Cho Sat junction (Bien Hoa city) as previously proposed.
Specifically, for the route passing through the province, there will be 3 sections including: from S0 station to Vung Tau junction; the section from Vung Tau junction to Cho Sat and the section from Cho Sat junction to Ho Nai 3 commune area.
In particular, the section from S0 station to Vung Tau junction has a length of about 3,8km and there is a change compared to the adjusted traffic development planning of Ho Chi Minh City to 2020 and vision after 2020 approved by the Prime Minister in 2013 under Decision No. 568/QD-TTg.
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| The extension of metro line 1 to Dong Nai and Binh Duong provinces is necessary to strengthen regional connectivity. Photo: CTV |
Meanwhile, the section from Vung Tau junction to Cho Sat with a length of about 8,9km will be routed according to planning No. 568.
As for the additional section compared to the planning No. 615 of the Provincial People's Committee, from Cho Sat junction to Ho Nai 3 commune area with a length of about 5,6km to connect to the depot (about 10ha) for the metro line 1 branch.
Regarding the investment scenario, according to the research results and proposals of the Southern GT-VT Consulting Joint Stock Company (TEDI South), in terms of traffic and passenger transport needs, in the immediate period, it is possible to study and invest in the section from Suoi Tien bus station to Binh Thang station (S0) and a part of branch 1. In which, it is possible to calculate the general use of the Long Binh depot of this metro line that has not been fully exploited during the period. For the section from S1 station to Binh Duong Industrial - Urban - Service Complex, in the immediate future, it is possible to organize passenger transport by BRT (fast bus) routes as planned. When the demand for passenger transportation reaches a higher level, the construction of branch 0 will be further invested.
According to the HCM City Department of Transport and Communications, the sections from Suoi Tien bus station to Binh Thang station (S0) and the branches going to Dong Nai and Binh Duong all go on high, so the construction technology is not too complicated compared to underground construction. At the same time, it also helps to enhance the urban landscape if well designed.
Pham Tung
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