Trial run sets off on Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line

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 Ben Thanh Market in District 1 and Suoi Tien Theme Park. Over 91% 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 Vietnam.

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 VND43.7 trillion (US$1.9 billion). It consists of 14 stations, three underground and 11 elevated, and runs through District 1, Binh Thanh district, Thu Duc City and neighbouring Binh Duong province.

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, but then delays hit due to the pandemic and procedural problems.