HCMC – The first metro line in HCMC, which connects Ben Thanh Market in District 1 and Suoi Tien Park in District 9, is 77% complete and will be operated on a trial basis early next year and be put into service in late 2021.
The Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR) of HCMC today, October 13, organized a ceremony to welcome the first train of the first metro line, which will have a total of 17 trains, after the first three Japanese-made train carriages arrived in the city on October 8. Each three-carriage train, with a length of 61.5 meters, is capable of carrying 930 passengers.
Speaking at the ceremony, Bui Xuan Cuong, head of MAUR, said that the construction of the elevated track of Metro Line No. 1 had been completed, while the underground sections were completed on February 17. The three underground stations and 11 elevated stations will soon be completed.
Work on the project has been shifted from the construction phase to the assembly and operation one, Cuong said, adding that the trial operation of the train will be carried out in several phases.
In the first quarter of 2021, the test run of the train will be done in Long Binh Depot in District 9, while operational testing of the train will continue in the third quarter, running from the depot to Binh Thai Station in Thu Duc District.
Before a test run on the entire line, coupled with the trial operation of electricity, light and signal systems, the train will continue running on a trial operational basis from the depot to the Tan Cang Station in Binh Thanh District in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The coronavirus pandemic has slowed down the progress of the first metro line project so MAUR has mobilized a number of workers to focus on the project. Some 2,600 employees are at work at the construction site of the 19.7-kilometer metro line project each day.
By Le Anh
