The Vietnamese contractor FECON said since there is not much land available the four stations would be built using the newest high-pressure jet grouting technology from Japan.

Tunnel boring machines used for Ho Chi Minh City’s first metro line will be brought in at the end of this year.

In the last few months the contractor has been putting up fences for two stations on Kim Ma Street and Cat Linh Street to carry out geological surveys. The third will be built near the Temple of Literature and the fourth near Hanoi Railway Station.

Earlier this month the South Korean-Italian contractor Hyundai-Ghella demanded $81 million in compensation for delays in handing over the land for the stations.

It also pleaded financial difficulties since it has not been paid for completed works.

The Nhon-Hanoi route will run 12.5 kilometers from the western district of Nam Tu Liem to the Hanoi Railway Station in the downtown area.

It will run 8.5 kilometers on elevated tracks through eight stations and four kilometers underground through four others.

Work on the line began in 2010, with the cost estimated at $1.2 billion and operations scheduled to start in 2017, but delays have since pushed the cost up to $1.55 billion. Around half the line was completed by March.

Authorities plan to operate the elevated section next year and the underground section in 2022.

The city’s first metro route, from Cat Linh to Ha Dong, is scheduled to begin operations this month. The 13-kilometer route runs from downtown to Yen Nghia Station in the southwestern Ha Dong District.