A trial run of HCM City’s Metro Line No.1 on Long Bình Depot’s railway W1 in Thủ Đức City. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — The Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR) in HCM City launched a trial run of HCM City’s Metro Line No.1 on Long Bình Depot’s railway W1 in Thủ Đức City on Tuesday.

The train was operated at a maximum speed of 20km per hour. The trial ran without any hitches, MAUR said.

Metro Line No.1 connects Bến Thành Market in District 1 and Suối Tiên Theme Park. Over 91 per cent of the metro line project has been completed.

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years, MAUR has closely coordinated with contractors in the construction of the railway and overhead power systems, as well as importing 17 trains to Việt Nam.

Hitachi, the main contractor, carrying out Contract Package 3 for the project, will continue to complete the remaining items such as signals, telecommunications and optical camera communications equipment to perform a test run for the whole route.

Metro Line No. 1, nearly 20km long, has a total investment of over VNĐ43.7 trillion (US$1.9 billion). It consists of 14 stations, three underground and 11 elevated, and runs through District 1, Bình Thạnh District, Thủ Đức City and the neighbouring province Bình Dương.

All 17 trains will have 147 seats and a capacity of 930 passengers. They can run at speeds of up to 110km per hour on the elevated section and 80km underground.

The project was initially scheduled for completion in late 2021 to run commercially in 2022. However, delays hit due to the pandemic and procedural problems. — VNS