Less than a week after work started on the underground metro station in front of the Opera House, ground has been broken on the HCMC’s first aboveground station.

The Binh Thai terminal pictured above is the first of the 11 aboveground stations on the Bến Thành-Suối Tiên line, the city’s first and is expected to be completed in December 2016.

Tuoi Tre relayed some of the station specifics: 

“The station will be 137.5 meters long and 23 meters wide with three floors when completed.

The ground floor, 7.2 meters high, is intended for passengers to enter and leave the terminal; the first floor, with a height of 13.8 meters, is for trains to pick up and drop off passengers; and the second floor, which is 19.5 meters high, is for the station’s offices and machinery.”

The line, estimated to cost $2.49 billion in total runs from District 9 to District 1 with stops in districts 1, 2, 9, Binh Thanh, Thu Duc and parts of Di An district in neighboring Binh Duong province.

Looks like it’s full steam ahead for Saigon’s first metro line.

[Tuoi Tre]