HCM City receives first train for Metro Line No 1

The train arrives in the city’s Khanh Hoi Port on October 8 (Photo: VNA)

HCM City - The Management Authority for Urban Railways of Ho Chi Minh City held a ceremony on October 13 to receive the first train for the city’s Metro Line No 1 (Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien).

The train will be tested at Long Binh Depot in District 9 - the repair and maintenance workshop - in the first quarter of next year before being moved to Binh Thai in the third quarter and to Tan Cang in the fourth quarter of the year.

It will then be put into trial operation together with all other systems of the metro line, such as power, signal, and track systems.

The three-carriage train, one of the 17 for the urban railway, arrived in the city’s Khanh Hoi Port on October 8 from Kasado Port in Japan.

The blue train is 61.5 metres in length, three metres wide, and four metres high, with a maximum speed of 110 km/h and seats also of blue. It can carry some 930 passengers, with 783 standing.

Construction of the city’s first metro line between Ben Thanh Market in District 1 and the Suoi Tien Theme Park in District 9 is expected to be completed within the next few months, with services to be underway by the end of next year.

It will have 14 stations, three of them underground. There will be 17 trains with three carriages each that will run at a maximum speed of 110 km/h above ground and 80 km/h below ground.

The 2.05 billion USD line is the first of at least six to be built in the city.

Addressing the ceremony, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong asked the Management Authority as well as contractors and consultation agencies to work harder together to speed up project progress.

The city will create optimal conditions for Metro Line No 1 to be completed on schedule, he said, adding that the project will help deepen links between the city and Japan.

For his part, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Yamada Takio said that despite the impact of COVID-19, the Vietnamese side has still managed to welcome technicians and experts from Japan to work on the project.

He expressed a belief that the project will contribute to improving traffic conditions in the city, helping to speed up socio-economic recovery after the pandemic.