The first train of HCM City’s Metro Line 1 (Bến Thành-Suối Tiên) arrived in the city's Khánh Hội Port on Thursday morning from Japan. VNA/VNS Photo Tiến Lực

HCM CITY — The first three of 51 carriages meant for HCM City’s first metro line arrived in Khánh Hội Port in District 4 on Thursday.

Each is around 20m long and weighs 37 tonnes, and unloading them is expected to take one day. 

A 32m trailer will be used to transport them from the port to Long Bình Depot in District 9, late at night on Friday  to avoid traffic. 

The blue and grey coaches have a simple interior design for easy cleaning and maintenance.

The coaches had been originally scheduled to arrive in early April, but were delayed along with Japanese engineers due to the travel restrictions caused by COVID-19 pandemic.

It is not known when the remaining coaches will be shipped to the city.

According to the HCM City Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR), metro line No 1 will have 17 trains with 51 coaches, all made in Japan.

Each train will be 61.5 metres long and can carry 930 passengers, including 783 standees, at a maximum speed of 110 kilometres per hour. 

In future the trains are expected to add three more coaches, according to MAUR. 

The 19.7km first line will run from Bến Thành Market in downtown District 1 to Suối Tiên theme park in District 9.

The line, which will have 14 stations (11 elevated and three underground), is expected to cost VNĐ43.7 trillion ($1.89 billion).

The much-delayed construction began in August 2012, and work is now 76 per cent complete.

More than 85 per cent of the elevated tracks and the Long Bình Depot is complete, MAUR said, adding that it targets completing 90 per cent of the total work this year and begin commercial operations by the end of 2021.

Six Japanese experts in charge of logistics and import procedures arrived in the city last month and are now working on track installation and equipment maintenance, according to MAUR.

The city plans to build eight metro lines running a total of 220 km. — VNS