HCMC – Metro Line No. 1 has started full-capacity trial runs from November 11 to 17, simulating real-world operating conditions, according to HCMC Urban Railways No.1 Company Limited (HURC1).
A total of 14 trains are running at full capacity along the 19.7-km urban rail line that connects Ben Thanh Market in District 1 and Suoi Tien Theme Park in Thu Duc City, with three additional trains on standby.
After trial runs at 20% of design capacity from October 14 to November 8, including routine operations and emergency drills, the is now ready for full-capacity testing, said a representative from HURC1.
Trains will run daily from 5:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., with headways of five minutes and 30 seconds to 10 minutes. The trials will include different scenarios, such as normal weekday operations, holiday schedules, and further emergency response drills.
Plans for operations post-November 18 will be discussed among the relevant stakeholders. HURC1 aims to have the metro line fully operational by the end of 2024.
Before these full-capacity trials, local staff were trained to operate the metro system, practicing 47 scenarios, including handling fires, explosions, power outages, flooding, and signal failures.
There are three underground stations and 11 overhead stations.
The Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line comes with a total cost of VND43.76 trillion.
