The Nhon-Hanoi Station Urban Railway (metro) project has yet to transport any passengers, despite plans to commence commercial operations in June.

The two largest cities of Vietnam, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, are developing plans to mobilise capital for constructing an extensive urban railway (metro) network by 2035.

Speaking on the long-delayed Metro Line 1, which remains incomplete after nearly 20 years, Ho Chi Minh City Party Secretary Nguyen Van Nen declared the situation "unacceptable."

The trial run of Metro Line 1 in Ho Chi Minh City faces the possibility of being postponed until November 2024, instead of the initially planned date of October, due to delays in progress by the contractor Hitachi.

Japan’s Hitachi, the contractor carrying out the Contract Package 3 for the HCM City’s Metro Line 1, has requested compensation from the investor for project-related additional costs amounting to nearly VND4 trillion (US$153.3 million).

This marks the second consecutive year the company has reported a positive profit after seven years of losses.

The Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board has just proposed to relocate and cut down 453 trees for construction of the city's second metro line.

HCMC Urban Railways No.1 Company Limited (HURC1) has proposed allocating nearly VND110 billion from the city’s budget to fund two months of trial run on the first urban railway of HCMC, in preparation for its commercial operation.

Ho Chi Minh City, the most populous locality and largest financial centre in Vietnam, is speeding up procedures to build three more metro lines with a total capital of more than US$5 billion alongside the two ongoing Metro lines No.1 and No.2.

The Metro Line 1 (Ben Thanh – Suoi Tien) in Ho Chi Minh City is expected to start commercial operation in October this year, according to the Ho Chi Minh City’s Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR).

Ho Chi Minh City’s first metro line, which stretches from Ben Thanh Market in District 1 to Suoi Tien Theme Park in Thu Duc City, is scheduled to operate its first seven trains in July.

The administration pledged to put the project into commercial operation in 2024.

Japan has just signed the fourth agreement with Vietnam to provide an additional VND7 trillion in official development assistance (ODA) for HCMC’s first metro line that connects Ben Thanh Market and Suoi Tien Theme Park.