At long last, visible progress on the underground section of Saigon's first metro line has appeared.

Tuoi Tre reports that the blue fencing which has largely cut off Nguyen Hue from the Opera House for years has been removed as work on the metro station below the area is nearly complete.

The section of Le Loi linking Nguyen Hue and Dong Khoi have been repaved, while a flower garden is being installed as well.

A flower garden is among the last few items on the to-do-list for the surface floor. Photo by Alberto Prieto.

The station will consist of four floors, the first of which is complete. This level will be used for a lobby, ticket booths, automatic ticket gates and an information station. According to the newspaper, this work was completed 96 days ahead of schedule.

Platforms where passengers can enter and alight from the metro trains are located on the second and fourth floors while the third is reserved for equipment storage, staff rooms, electrical systems, and other operational functions.

An entrance to the Opera House Metro Station on the right. Photo by Alberto Prieto.

Officials are aiming to complete 85% of the overall line, which stretches from Ben Thanh Market to Suoi Tien in District 9, by the end of this year, with a late 2021 opening date currently targeted after years of delay.

Trains which will be used on the route are currently undergoing testing in Japan, as they have not been able to be imported to Vietnam due to the coronavirus pandemic.

[Top photo by Anh Tu via Lao Dong]