Bui Xuan Cuong, director of the HCMC Management Authority for Urban Railways, said the tree planting project aims to enhance urban aesthetics and mitigate climate change impacts.

The trees would be planted in four sections: a 0.8 km section from Van Thanh Canal to Dien Bien Phu Street; a 3.2 km section from Saigon Bridge to Rach Chiec Bridge; a 4.4 km segment from Rach Chiec Bridge to the Thu Duc Intersection; and a 6.3 km segment from the Thu Duc Intersection to a station at the end of the metro line in District 9 and neighboring Binh Duong Province.

Saigon’s Metro Line 1, or Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro, is to run nearly 20 kilometers (12 miles) through the city’s 1, 2, 9, Binh Thanh and Thu Duc Districts, and the neighboring Binh Duong Province's Di An District.

It is now 67 percent complete and expected to begin operating in April 2021.

Dozens of trees had been felled during the metro line construction, including those on the downtown streets of Le Loi and Ton Duc Thang.