Hanoi (VNA) – The stations of the Nhon – Hanoi Station urban railway project are located about 1km from each other on average, and the maximum speed will be 35km per hour, equivalent to 2 minutes’ running

Trains on Nhon – Hanoi Station metro line to operate at 35kmh on avera hinh anh 1Design of the Nhon-Hanoi Station urban railway line (Photo courtesy of the Hanoi Urban Railway Project Management Board)
  

The Nhon – Hanoi Station urban railway trains will have an average speed of 35km per hour as they will have to constantly stop to take in and discharge passengers, the stations are located 1km from each other on average and, as a result, the raising of the speed to a too high level will be very costly.

Under the plan, the first train will arrive in Vietnam in July 2020 to meet the progress of the operation of the elevated stage in April 2021 and the whole line in 2022. Upon its arrival in Vietnam, the train will be test operated and integrated into the system, and will not be utilized until all the requirements are met and quality ensured.

A report by the Hanoi Urban Railway Management Board said the trains on the Nhon – Hanoi Station metro line are being assembled in France and the overall progress has been 34.4 percent. There will be 10 trains built of European-standard aluminum alloy. They will be 2.75 – 2.95 metres in width and about 80 metres in length for four-carriage ones (later they will have one carriage added to become five-carriage). The handles on the trains will be customized for Vietnamese.

Once completed and put into operation, the trains will be able to carry 850-950 passengers each, with a density of 6-8 people for each square metre, and run at 35km per hour for commercial operation while their maximum designed speed is 80km per hour, similar to that of those in Paris, Berlin and other urban areas in Asia. This is taken as the standard design of metro lines in the world.

The current speed of the buses in the capital averages 16 – 18 km per hour, and that of BRT, about 23km per hour. With a commercial operation speed of 35km per hour, coupled with considerable advantages such as comfort to passengers, safety level, costs, distance between stops, punctuality and superiority of the journeys compared to the distances, urban railway has become the optimal public means of transport.

Elaborating on the commercial operation speed of 35km per hour, Technical Director of the ALSTOM-COLAS RAIL-THALES Julien Barjou said the Nhon – Hanoi Station line will stretch 12.5km, including 8.5km elevated and 4km under the ground from Kim Ma to the Hanoi Station. Its 12 stations will dot the line with 8 elevated and four under the ground. That is to say the trains will take in and discharge passengers continuously along that 12.5km line, or one station for each km.

For the commercial operation speed of 35 -38 km per hour, the official said the trains will accelerate from 0km per hour from the first station and those along the line to the speed of about 72 – 74 km per hour and slow down to 0km per hour when they arrive at the next station. This process will be repeated to the last station.

He further added that the distance from the Nhon station to the Hanoi station is 11.955km and the time for the journey from Station 1 to Station 12 will be 19.26 minutes for the first leg and 19 minutes for the return.-VNA

 The Nhon-Hanoi Station urban railway project has a total investment of 1.17 billion EUR (about 30,197 billion VND) and is scheduled to be implemented from 2009 to 2022, including the operation of the elevated section in April 2021 and the whole line in December 2022. It stretches 12.5km, including 8.5km above the ground and 4km under ground, crossing the districts of North Tu Liem, South Tu Liem, Cau Giay, Ba Dinh, Dong Da and Hoan Kiem.
 
VNA