According to the HCMC Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR), which oversees construction of the Ben Thanh – Tham Luong route, 461 out of 603 households in six districts who have to relocate have done so.

Districts 1, 10, 12, Tan Binh, and Tan Phu have completed compensation negotiations but there are some problems in District 3 where, out of 113 families, only 37 have handed over their lands. The rest have refused to accept the compensation amounts.

But MAUR expects the acquisition to be completed by the end of the third quarter.

The Ben Thanh – Tham Luong Metro Line will run 11 kilometers between Districts 1 and 12, 9.2 km of it underground, and have 10 stations.

It is now expected to cost VND47.9 trillion ($2 billion) after ballooning from the original estimate of VND26 trillion.

It is part of eight metro lines planned in the city with a combined length of 220 kilometers and a price tag of nearly $25 billion.

Disagreements over compensation have repeatedly delayed land acquisition, causing the entire project to be rescheduled several times.

Its first phase is scheduled to finish in 2026, when it will carry 140,000 passengers a day.

The country’s biggest city, with a population of 13 million, has been struggling with traffic congestion for years.

The number of personal vehicles has exploded with 825,000 automobiles and 8.12 million motorbikes on the roads now, while public transport is woefully underdeveloped.