The Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien Metro Line is now 71% complete, its management board says.

According to Tuoi Tre, two separate construction packages on the line were completed yesterday, with a diaphragm wall underneath the Opera House being demolished to connect the entire line, linking the underground and above-ground sections of the track.

Huynh Hong Thanh, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Project Management Board, told the news source that the 19.7-kilometer-long line is now clear all the way from the Long Binh Depot in District 9 to Ben Thanh Market.

The wall had been separating different construction packages for the Ben Thanh, Opera House and Ba Son underground stations. With the below-ground infrastructure in place in District 1, work will now shift to the installation of the rail systems, electrical and mechanical equipment, and signals.

Elsewhere, work is still ongoing for the above-ground stations in Binh Thanh and districts 2 and 9, while project managers aim to have the line at 85% complete by the end of this year so that it can go into operation by the end of 2021.

Workers are now starting to rebuild the surface of Le Loi Street from Dong Khoi to Pasteur, as well as the park in front of the Opera House. This work is currently scheduled for completion before the Reunification Day holiday on April 30.

Tuoi Tre adds that the first train for the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien line is expected to be delivered by June of this year.

[Photo by Quang Dinh via Tuoi Tre]