The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee started construction of Ben Thanh – Tham Luong Metro Route No.2 at a ground breaking ceremony held in District 12 Tuesday.

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai said that the metro route is a significant work to the socioeconomic development of the city as well as of the country. The city authorities and residents should soon solve difficulties so that the project would be completed on schedule, he added.

The 20-kilometer subway line, starting at Ben Thanh Terminal in District 1 and ending at Tham Luong Depot in District 12, will be built in two phases.

In the first phase, it will be built along Truong Chinh, Cach Mang Thang Tam, Pham Hong Thai, and Ham Nghi streets with ten underground stations and one elevated station.

In the second phase, the route will be built from Ben Thanh Market area to run beneath the Saigon River to Thu Thiem New Urban Area in District 2. The construction on the other side will be from Tham Luong Depot to An Suong station.

It is expected that the second metro route, with the initial capital of VND23,000 billion (US$1.2 billion), will begin operation by 2016.

Also attending the ceremony were the city’s senior officials together with representatives from embassies and banks.

The metro route No.1 Ben Thanh – Suoi Tien is currently under construction and expected to begin operating in 2015 to transport about 526,000 passengers a day.