Hanoi’s second metro route moved closer to operations

The first of a total 10 trains for the Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station route set sail from France’s Dunkirk Port on September 9. The shop docked at Malaysia’s Klang Port en route to Vietnam.

On the morning of October 18, the ship arrived at the Nam Hai Dinh Vu Port in Hai Phong. Nguyen Cao Minh, head of the Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board (MRB), said the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the design and production processes of the train. However, with hectic, concerted efforts all parties, the train was transported to Vietnam a week earlier than expected, Minh said.

Hundreds of workers with specialized equipment unload a train car at the Nam Dinh Hai Vu Port.

After four hours, the unloading at the port was completed. The train cars were placed on special trucks that would drive them to Hanoi.

The transportation unit discuss the plan before starting out on the 200-km ride from the port to Hanoi. Since the vehicles were only allowed to run between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., it took two days to move all the train parts.

At 10:15 p.m. on October 18, the train left the port with navigation and other support from the traffic force and transportation unit.
Tractors with 80-wheel trailers and a tonnage of 250 tons were used.

The train passes Hanoi’s southern gateway early Tuesday morning.

Around 2:30 a.m., the vehicles pass the elevated tracks on Cau Dien Street.

The train cars made it to the depot in Nhon at around 3 a.m. They will be placed on rails for assembling and testing. Le Trung Hieu, Deputy Head of MRB, said that the train will be given test runs in depot after some adjustments and installation of electronic parts that had been temporarily removed during the transportation. The train will be put on public display later this year.

Foreign experts guide the delivery of the train cars into the depot. The first of 10 trains to be deployed on the Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station route has four cars, each 80 m long. The train is made of standard European aluminum alloy produced by a French contractor. Each train can carry 944 to 1,124 people. It has a designed speed of 80 kph and a commercial speed of 35 kph.

The Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station route is expected to run commercially on an 8.5 km long elevated track in the second half of 2021. The remaining 4 km long underground section is expected to become operational by the end of 2022.
Two more trains are expected to arrive in March next year and the 10th train, the last one, will reach Vietnam in June.