Train staff guides are on their duty to instruct people to stand inside the yellow line while waiting for the train. —VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Hiếu

HÀ NỘI — The Railway Management Board under the Ministry of Transport and Hà Nội Metro Company on Wednesday morning started checking documents and assets for the handover of the Cát Linh - Hà Đông Urban Railway project to Hà Nội's authorities for commercial operation.

The checks of documents and assets are scheduled to take three to four weeks.

Deputy Minister Nguyễn Ngọc Đông said based on reports of the management board and the company, Hà Nội authorities would decide the official time for handing over and operating the railway.

The handover and operation of the railway look set to attract great attention from Hà Nội citizens because this was the first urban railway project of the country and the project has failed to meet operation deadlines on many occasions, he said.

The ministry said the railway would be put into commercial operation after it was evaluated and certified safe by relevant agencies.

According to the Vietnam News Agency, many local journalists were invited to experience a trip on the urban railway on Wednesday morning.

They bought train tickets from automatic ticket selling machines and experienced related convenient services.

“Elevators, ticketing machines and the operation of the train are quite stable,” the agency's correspondent said.

Vũ Hồng Trường, General Director of the metro company, said the tally of documents and assets would be done as scheduled.

After being handed over, the project would be supported in its operations for one year by the contractors, he added.

The Cát Linh-Hà Đông Urban Railway’s tickets will be free for the first 15 days of operation.

After that, a one-way ticket will cost VNĐ15,000 (US$0.65). Then, the operation unit will notify passengers of the price of monthly and quarterly tickets soon.

The Cát Linh-Hà Đông Urban Railway project started in 2008 with a total investment of VNĐ18 trillion (US$782.6 million) and was initially expected to be completed in 2016. However, it has missed its completion deadline several times.

The Cát Linh-Hà Đông line runs 13.5km with 12 stations, encompassing Cát Linh, La Thành, Thái Hà, Láng, Thượng Đình, Ring Road 3, Phùng Khoang, Văn Quán, Hà Đông, La Khê, Văn Khê and Yên Nghĩa. — VNS