HCM City’s 1st metro line to start trials by year-end

Construction going on at Ben Thanh Station on metro line No 1. (Photo: VNA)

Ho Chi Minh City (VNS/VNA) — Ho Chi Minh City’s metro line No 1 between Ben Thanh Market in District 1 and Suoi Tien Theme Park in Thu Duc city will start trial operations by December 31 this year.

Nguyen Quoc Hien, deputy head of the HCM City Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR), said recently that construction of the line is 89 per cent complete.  

The underground portion on Le Loi Street and in front of Ben Thanh Market will be finished by April 30, restoring normalcy to traffic flows and the downtown landscape, he said, adding MAUR and its contractors are striving to begin commercial operation by next year.

Le Hoa Binh, standing vice chairman of the city People's Committee, said meetings would be held every two weeks to assess the progress, quality and safety of the project and resolve any difficulties that arise.

The 19.7km line is expected to carry a 2.05 billion USD price tag.

It will have 14 stations, three underground and 11 elevated, and run through districts 1 and Binh Thanh, Thu Duc city and neighbouring Binh Duong province.

MAUR has received 11 trains and will take delivery of the remaining six this year. All the 17 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 line is the first of the at least six to be built in the city.

The city will begin construction of line No 2 between Ben Thanh Market and Tham Luong Depot in District 12 this year.

It will cost 47.89 trillion (2.1 billion USD), with funding from official development assistance sources and reciprocal capital from the city.

Scheduled to be completed in 2026, it will be linked with line No 1./.