Ho Chi Minh City has proposed to the management board of the Saigon-Can Tho express railway project that part of the section running through the city be elevated.

The move is expected to help minimize the impact of the project on underground traffic routes, thus ensuring smooth traffic flows and safety for travelers given the advancing urbanization process in the southern city.

Under the plan, the section passing through the city will be 36 km in length, with the elevated section estimated to be 12 km long.

The entire project has total investment of nearly $9 billion and is designed to handle passenger trains reaching speeds of 190 km/h and freight trains reaching 120 km/h.

The project is expected to help increase links between Ho Chi Minh City and the southern key economic region with Can Tho city, which is considered the key economic hub of the Mekong Delta and the gateway to the Delta region.