Vietnamese man drives Metro train number 1
According to the Management Board of Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway (MAUR), the underground construction sections from Ben Thanh station to the City Theater station, from the City Theater station to Ba Son station and the elevated section along with Long Binh depot have all reached over 99.9%. At the same time, the procurement package of electromechanical equipment, locomotives, carriages and rails has reached 96.6%, ready for trial operation and then commercial exploitation .
In preparation for the metro line’s operation, MAUR has implemented a practical training program for 58 train drivers and 24 train dispatchers. After completing the theoretical and simulation training phase in Vietnam and Japan, the trainees have officially entered the practical training phase on the project’s trains.
Ms. Pham Thi Thu Thao - a student of the Train Driving Technician class - shared the exciting feeling of directly operating the train: "It feels very real to be on the actual train. When pulling the force to make the train move, I can feel the movement and when braking the train, I can feel the train's grip."
Mr. Tran Dang Thanh - Deputy Director of Urban Railway Company No. 1 - emphasized: "This is a very important milestone for you to gain practical experience, as a premise for trial operation in October, November and official commercial operation at the end of this year".
Currently, about 300 station staff are being trained on the equipment system at the stations. In addition to training human resources, the pedestrian bridges across Vo Nguyen Giap Avenue - Hanoi Highway connecting to Metro Station No. 1 are being accelerated for synchronous exploitation when the project is put into commercial operation.
Currently, 6 out of 9 pedestrian bridges have been completed, including: Tan Cang, An Phu, Rach Chiec, Phuoc Long, Binh Thai and High-Tech Park. The remaining two bridges at National University Station and Thu Duc Station are expected to be completed in September.
Synchronized connection to bus network
Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hien - Deputy Head of MAUR - commented that Metro Line 1 has great significance for the transportation and economic system of Ho Chi Minh City, promising to bring positive changes in the way people travel.
“When the train has not run yet, people may not feel it clearly, but when this metro line is put into operation, people will realize that this is a modern and friendly means of transport, and it may even fascinate them,” Mr. Hien shared. He also emphasized that the completion of Metro Line 1 will create a strong driving force for the city to continue implementing other metro projects.
To ensure the convenience of passengers, each station is equipped with a motorbike parking lot, allowing people to park their vehicles and travel by metro to the city center. For passengers using buses, the Ho Chi Minh City Public Transport Management Center has developed a plan to increase the connection of bus routes with metro stations.
It is expected that there will be 18 existing bus routes with a total of 3,528 trips/day serving an average of 66,795 passengers/day passing through the Ben Thanh market area.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport will open two new bus routes to connect with Ben Thanh metro station after Metro Line 1 officially operates, including: Saigon Bus Station - City Theater route; Saigon Bus Station - Hoa Hung Station route. Both routes have a capacity of 17 - 20 passengers, 206 trips/day. At the same time, there will be bus routes running in urban and residential areas to take passengers to the metro.
Complaints do not increase Metro Line 1's capital
Metro Line 1 is facing some problems due to disputes and complaints about the costs of nearly 4,000 billion VND. According to the leader of MAUR, the problems are mainly related to the interpretation of the contract and the coordination in terms of the interface between the NJPT consulting consortium and Japanese contractors. Currently, Ho Chi Minh City has accepted to add some types of costs to serve the final construction items. In case the Dispute Resolution Board and the Commercial Mediation Unit decide that Ho Chi Minh City must take responsibility and pay these amounts, it will not increase the project's capital because it is still within the 6,000 billion VND reserve fund according to the total initial investment.
