Trial run on the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line
The test run on the 12.30-kilometre section from Suoi Tien Station to An Phu Station was the fifth trial conducted so far.
According to MAUR, there would be three more test runs before the line is officially put into operation.
During this pilot operation, trains will run slower than 50 kilometres per hour compared with the designed speed of 110 kilometres per hour for safety reasons.
The last test run was conducted in late January and focused on checking the operation of the line’s automatic train protection system, in addition to continuing the testing of the power supply source and the rail system.
During a trial run carried out last December, a train with three carriages safely ran along a nine-kilometre section along the elevated track at 40 kilometres per hour.
The line has 17 Japanese-made trains which can run up to 110 kilometres per hour above ground and 80 kilometres per hour underground.
Each metro train can accommodate 930 passengers, including 147 sitting and 783 standing.
The city’s first metro line runs 19.70 kilometres, including 2.60 kilometres of underground and 17.1 kilometres of elevated track.
It runs from Ben Thanh Market in District 1 to Suoi Tien Theme Park in Thu Duc City through three underground stations and 11 stops above ground.
Construction on the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien line started in late 2012 with a total investment of VND43,700 billion, most of which was sourced from Japanese official development assistance loans. This was the first among eight urban metro projects for the southern metropolis.
Up to 95 percent of the project’s work has been completed and MAUR said that they were trying to complete the outstanding work so that it could be put into commercial operation by the end of this year.