On August 9, the Management Board of HCMC Urban Railways announced that Hitachi has begun handing over the entire electrical system of Package CP3 to the NJPT Joint Venture to serve the training and practice of employees of Urban Railways Joint Stock Company No. 1 (HURC1).
The handed-over equipment includes 11 systems: Train system, rail system, ticket system, information system, signal system, warning sign system, power supply system, overhead power supply system, depot equipment and workshop system, monitoring and data collection system, and automatic door system.
MAUR assessed that this is an important milestone when Vietnamese employees directly practice on the project's equipment after a long period of theoretical study.
According to MAUR, previously, due to different interpretations of the contract, Hitachi contractor stated that the entire system of equipment would not be handed over to serve the training until the equipment was accepted.
To resolve the issue, the investor has continuously exchanged and negotiated with the parties, and the problem of using the equipment of the contractors for training and practice has been basically resolved.
The parties have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on related contents. Accordingly, the investor and the contractor will expedite the procedures for establishing the Dispute Resolution Board (DAB) to resolve emerging complaints, and simultaneously accept paying 80% of direct costs for training activities in using Hitachi contractor's equipment.
According to the plan, the training and practice on the main line for HURC1 employees will be completed in September 2024. Employees who have completed the training will participate in the trial operation (Trial Run) in October and November with independent evaluation by the French System Safety Advisory (BVT) company.
Based on the results of the trial operation evaluation and the System Safety Inspection Report of the BVT advisory, the investor will submit the file to the Railway Administration to conduct the safety inspection and submit the completion inspection to the State Acceptance Board to complete the completion inspection and put the project into operation.
Recently, the Prime Minister has issued a decision approving the adjustment of the investment plan for the Metro Line 1 project. Accordingly, the completion time of the construction project is adjusted to the end of the fourth quarter of 2024. Other contents remain unchanged.
Metro Line 1 has a total investment of over 437 billion VND, with a length of nearly 20km from Long Binh Depot (TP. Thủ Đức) to Bến Thành Station (District 1). The project was launched in 2012, with the original plan to complete it after 6 years, but the progress has been delayed many times.
Currently, Metro Line 1 has completed over 98% of the volume, and is expected to operate commercially by the end of this year.
