Seminar seeks to develop metro routes in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City

In his opening speech, Tran Sy Thanh, chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, emphasised that the urban railway system is widely considered to be the "backbone" of the transport infrastructure network.

Early investment and effective operation of the metro system is expected to raise the proportion of public passenger transport and reduce the use of personal vehicles, thereby making a positive impact on local socio-economic development, as well as helping to reduce environmental pollution and traffic congestion, said Thanh.

However, he said after more than 15 years of implementation, the progress of urban railway projects remains slow with only one metro line being put into operation.

Thanh therefore underlined the necessity of devising proper mechanisms and policies, whilst also learning from international experiences to complete the development of the urban railway system.

At the seminar, foreign experts shared details about the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) model in urban railway development from a global perspective, which has been applied successfully in France, Japan, Hong Kong (China), China, and Singapore.

The initiatives put forward by experts at the seminar are expected to enable breakthrough solutions to emerge in the building of the urban railway network in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.