70 per cent of passengers on Cát Linh - Hà Đông elevated urban railway use monthly tickets, a sign of the line's effective operation. — VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hùng

HÀ NỘI — After nearly a year of operation, Hà Nội's first metro project, the Cát Linh - Hà Đông urban railway has welcomed more than 7.2 million passengers.

Also known as the 2A line, the metro line is seeing on average 32,000 passengers daily, of which 70 per cent use monthly tickets.

Deputy Director of Hà Nội Public Transport Management Centre Thái Hồ Phương said that in the past nine months, the metro line has served over 5.4 million passengers, earning VNĐ47 billion (US$1.9 million) in revenue and exceeding the plan by 5 per cent.

The city’s public transport capacity has also increased to over 30 per cent. The goal is that this figure will rise to 35 per cent by 2025.

According to transport expert Lê Trung Hiếu, following a year of official operation, the 2A line has achieved four major goals of safety, attracting passengers and reducing the use of personal vehicles, gaining experience in urban railway management and operation, while clearing all doubts on urban rail lines.

However, the number of passengers now only reaches 15 per cent of the line’s capacity, requiring the completion of the public transport network to utilise the full potential of urban railways, Phương noted.

Vũ Hồng Tường, director general of Hà Nội Metro One Member Ltd. Co. – the line operator, said that there are seven groups of tasks for the effective management of urban railways.

Those are the organisational model, recruitment and human resources, the process for system maintenance and operation, fare policies, pilot programme and support in the initial operation, and subsidy preparation.

Trường said: “From the success story and experience of the Cát Linh - Hà Đông metro line, we are confident that Nhổn - Hà Nội Station line will go into operation effectively and successfully.”

Regarding traffic connection, Deputy Director Phương said that there are 65 bus stops along the metro route.

Cát Linh Station (the starting point) has 16 bus lines, while Yên Nghĩa Station (the end point) has 18.

However, the limited infrastructure is still an obstacle to setting up parking lots for passengers, as well as the connection with the city’s public transport network, Giao Thông (Transport) newspaper reported.

A metro train running across the Tô Lịch River in Thanh Xuân District. — VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hùng

The Cát Linh - Hà Đông metro line measures 13.05km, consisting of 12 elevated stations and 13 trains.

While its maximum speed is 80km per hour, the trains run at 35km per hour during normal operation. The average waiting time for passengers is between six to ten minutes.

The total capital of the urban railway project was over VNĐ18 trillion (US$868 million), which included funding from China and the local budget.

The metro line went into operation on November 6 last year, offering free rides for the first 15 days.

As part of the public transport system, the line’s ticket pricing currently receives subsidy from the capital city’s budget. — VNS