The long-awaited development of a more environmentally friendly transportation system in Vietnam has finally begun. The HCMC transport department has closed down a section of Le Loi Street, Nguyen Hue Street and the Le Loi – Nguyen Hue roundabout to make way for Vietnam’s first underground.

The 19.7km underground line, between Ben Thanh Market in District 1 and Suit Tien Park in District 9, is scheduled to be completed in 2017 and be operational in 2018, when it is estimated to transport around 620,000 passengers each day.