Vietnam is struggling to get new urban rail lines up and running, with Hanoi's first line delayed yet again thanks to financial problems.
Just a week after news surfaced that Saigon's second metro line is at least seven years behind schedule, VnExpress reports that the capital's Cat Linh-Ha Dong line will miss its planned October test run due to a delay in funding.
No new date for a trial run on the line has been set.
The China Railway Sixth Group Co., which is supplying much of the funding for the system, has delayed a US$250 million official development assistance (ODA) payment.
As a result many subcontractors and suppliers are waiting to be paid, while few workers have been seen along the line recently, the news source shares.
Nguyen Ngoc Dong, the vice minister of transport, said last week that the ministry plans to work with the Chinese embassy in Hanoi to clear up the delay.
Work on the chronically delayed line in Hanoi began in October of 2011 and was supposed to be completed in 2013, but a steady stream of financial and engineering setbacks has pushed completion to sometime next year.
[Photo via VietnamNet]
