HCMC – After two trains of the first metro line project in HCMC are transported to Long Binh Depot in Thu Duc City, the entire metro line system will be checked before being operated on a trial basis in the third quarter of this year.
On May 11, the second train of the metro line was placed on the T1 rail track in Long Binh Depot. The third train will be transported from Khanh Hoi Port in District 4 to the depot tomorrow, May 13, VnExpress reported.
Hoang Mai Tung, a coordinating engineer of the metro line project from the Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR) of HCMC, said the arrival of the three-car trains and Japanese experts in HCMC would help speed up the trial runs of the project.
The trains will run within the depot at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour and later on an elevated railway from the depot to the Binh Thai Intersection in Thu Duc City. In the next stage, they will run from the depot to the Tan Cang Station in Binh Thanh District and the entire route. The trial operation at the depot may last for six months.
Japanese contractor Hitachi will take charge of the trial operation with the involvement of local employees, who have been trained to drive and maintain the trains.
The first metro line project in HCMC will have 17 trains, with the first phase using the three-car trains and the following phase using the six-car ones, which are all manufactured in Japan.
Each three-car train is 61.5 meters long and capable of carrying 930 passengers. They can travel at a maximum speed of 110 kilometers per hour on elevated sections and 80 kilometers per hour on underground sections.
According to Hitachi, four more trains will arrive in Vietnam in the next two months and the remainder in line with the progress of the project.
The first train was transported to Long Binh Depot in October last year.
Metro Line No. 1 requires an estimated investment of over VND43.7 trillion and is nearly 20 kilometers, stretching from Ben Thanh Market in District 1 to Long Binh Depot.
The manufacturing of trains, rail tracks and other equipment is nearly 70% complete, while the entire project is nearly 85% complete and is expected to be ready next year.
