Metro Line No. 1 (Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien) has been put into operation and received many positive responses from people in Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring areas. In particular, during the recent Lunar New Year, there were days when the Metro line served up to 120,000 passengers, and Ben Thanh Station was always crowded with people. However, besides the benefits that the metro line brings, there are still some shortcomings that make people not really satisfied.
Mr. Hoang Minh (residing in Binh Thanh District) said that since the metro was built, he has often used this public transport to go to work.
"Since the metro was available, I have been traveling much less congested. But I see many shortcomings in the ticket sales system, especially during rush hour, people have to wait in line for a long time to buy tickets. I hope the automatic ticket sales system will work soon to reduce waiting time to buy tickets," said Mr. Minh.
Similarly, Ms. Nguyen Hong Trinh (residing in Phu Nhuan District) said: "I often take the metro to work. I find utilities such as information screens and charging stations very useful. However, I also encountered an automatic ticket vending machine that was not working, leading to having to wait in line to buy handmade tickets, which took a lot of time."
Faced with that situation, Mr. Tran Dang Thanh - Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Company No. 1 - said that the unit is coordinating with contractor Hitachi to thoroughly overcome the remaining construction work of the project. In particular, the automatic ticket system is currently in the completion stage, expected to be completed in May 2025.
To solve the congestion at stations, especially Ben Thanh Station, Metro Line 1 operator will add a number of ticket control gates. In particular, in case the number of passengers waiting to buy tickets increases dramatically, the unit will arrange additional handheld ticket vending machines to reduce waiting time to buy tickets.
Mr. Thanh said that with the approval of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board (MAUR) and HURC1 have proactively coordinated with sponsor Mastercard to deploy a temporary toll collection system.
"This system is fully funded by Mastercard and can be even more advanced than the current system in the project, while also being in line with the trend of no cash when accepting bank cards and reading QR codes," said Mr. Thanh.
Previously, on February 12, Urban Railway Company No. 1 (HURC1) also announced a cooperation with Mastercard and Samsung to improve the travel experience and utilities for passengers when taking Metro No. 1.
HURC1 will upgrade facilities by installing 206 screens on 17 trains to provide information, news and entertainment; building a charging station system at stations; installing 46 screens to help passengers look up information and instructions on how to use the service.
