Speaking at a meeting held on October 29 by the Ministry of Transport and the State Inspection Council, Minister of Construction, Nguyen Thanh Nghi, who is Chairman of the State Inspection Council announced the agreement and asked the project investor to closely co-operate with Hanoi authorities and concerned agencies to ensure legal issues and safe operations of the line.

So far, 13 trains have received technical safety and environmental protection certificates from the Vietnam Register and a certificate from the Vietnam Fire and Rescue Police Department. They have also been put into trial runs since last December.

Invested by the Transport Ministry, the Cat Linh – Ha Dong metro line runs over 13 kilometres with 12 elevated stations from Cat Linh Ward in Dong Da District to Yen Nghia Ward in Ha Dong District.

The line has 13 trains and each has four carriages capable of carrying over 900 passengers. The trains have a design speed of 80 kilometres per hour but the commercial run’s speed would be capped at an average of 35 kilometres per hour. The project has a total investment of USD 886 million.