The Department of Transport of Ho Chi Minh City has issued a document to relevant units regarding the draft policy to support passengers using public transportation within the city.
Metro line No. 1 in Ho Chi Minh City is expected to be put into operation to serve people from October this year
The policy aims to encourage the public to use public transportation (including the bus system and urban railway – metro line 1) and implement fare exemptions or reductions for socially supported groups.
It is planned that the budget of Ho Chi Minh City will fully support ticket prices for revolutionaries before August 19, 1945; Heroic Vietnamese Mothers; veterans; individuals eligible for veteran-related policies; those affected by chemical warfare during the resistance war. Additionally, heavily disabled persons, older persons (Vietnamese citizens aged 60 and above), children under 6 years old or below 1.3 meters tall accompanied by adults will also benefit from this policy.
Students residing in Ho Chi Minh City will receive a 50% fare reduction on single tickets and monthly passes.
In particular, Ho Chi Minh City will allocate from the budget full fare support for passengers using the first urban railway line (metro line 1) and 17 bus routes connected to this metro line (from route number 153 to route number 169) for the first three months from the start of commercial operations of metro line 1.
According to the Department of Transport of Ho Chi Minh City, implementing fare exemptions or reductions demonstrates the city’s superior policies towards supported groups. Simultaneously, this is a solution to encourage people to form habits of using public passenger transportation and reduce the use of personal vehicles in daily life, thus contributing to the goal of reducing traffic congestion and accidents.
The Ben Thanh – Suoi Tien metro line is 19.7 km long with a total investment of over 43,700 billion VND sourced from ODA loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency and counterpart funds from the budget of Ho Chi Minh City. This is the first urban railway project in Ho Chi Minh City, which commenced in 2012 and has faced numerous delays due to various difficulties. As of now, approximately 98% of the project has been completed.
The management board of the urban railway informed that testing of systems and trial runs along the entire line are continuously taking place day and night, alongside personnel training to prepare for operations. It is anticipated that by the end of September, the metro line 1 will complete its trial runs. By October, after safety inspections and approvals by relevant agencies, the trains can officially start serving the public.
@Thanhnien.vn
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Source: Vietnam Insider