[sgxin]

Japanese company started building HCMC MRT in 2012, it was supposed to complete in 2017, got delayed, Vietnam’s PM got worried and visited the site, then they promise to get it done in 2020, failed, then said will delay to end 2021, the news says due to Covid it will only be completed in 2024. The new MRT line in both cities are about the same length and stations, why ‘lousy’ Chinese engineers can get it done within 9 years but the smart Japanese engineers have taken so long never finish? 

The Hanoi subway line was completed in 2019, but the Vietnamese/Hanoi gov played punk over its acceptance and delayed project payment.
This line is only US$800mln+ which is just 1/3 of the Ho Chi Minh line. So perhaps the Japanese will also face similar delays as the Vietnamese haggles over the project payment by carrying many rounds of "acceptance" tests.



But Laos will be opening SE Asia first "HSR" line end of this year, so not to loose face, Hanoi now wants to have their subway line operational before the Laos.

https://tinyurl.com/HanoiTestRun