The Hanoi People’s Committee has proposed increasing the investment capital for the Nam Thang Long - Tran Hung Dao section of Metro Line No. 2 by nearly 82 per cent to VND35.58 trillion ($1.5 billion).

This would represent an increase of VND16 trillion ($650 million).

The increase is needed primarily because of higher construction costs, which are estimated to rise by VND6.676 trillion ($278 million), and higher equipment costs, which are estimated to rise by VN2.754 trillion ($114.7 million), according to the People’s Committee.

The project was approved by the Committee in November 2008 and is designed to have a total length of 11.5 km, including 8.5 km of underground track and 3 km of elevated track.

It will have seven underground stations and three elevated stations.

Under the new proposal, the underground section will expand to 8.9 km while the elevated section will be cut to 2.6 km.

The project’s completion deadline was also proposed to be extended to 2029, or 14 years later than the original deadline of 2015, with two additional years for training, operations, and maintenance.