HCM City's Bến Thành-Suối Tiên metro line during a trial run. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vũ

HCM CITY — All the 17 trains of HCM City's metro line No.1, Bến Thành-Suối Tiên, will continuously run on a trial basis during the Lunar New Year (Tết) holiday, said the city’s Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR).

Accordingly, contractor Hitachi of bidding package CP3 will make use of the equipment installation suspension to increase pilot operations. The continuous test run aims to complete the testing of remaining equipment so as to put the route into commercial use this year.

Once put into use, the systems of the route will operate harmoniously and almost automatically, so trial operations are compulsory to ensure all equipment are well-connected with one another, MAUR said.

It added that about 40 personnel, mainly experts from Europe and Japan, will be in charge of the test run during the holiday.

Metro line No.1 consists of 17 trains, each of which comprises three carriages and is 61.5m long. All were manufactured in Japan. Each train can carry a maximum of 930 passengers, including 147 sitting and 783 standing. The designed maximum speed is 110km per hour on elevated sections and 80km per hour on underground sections.

About 97.5 per cent of the route’s workload has been completed. The facility is expected to become operational in July 2024. — VNS