Hanoi second metro to have test run this year

With construction nearing completion, Hanoi’s second metro line is scheduled to have a test run at the end of this year.
Construction of beams and columns for the 8.5-km elevated section of the Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station line is complete, the Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board said Tuesday.

Elevated stations, being built under a separate package, are 80 percent complete, with contractors now building their roofs and installing escalators.

The tracks, supplied by a Russian company and installed by a French contractor, are mostly in place in the elevated section.

If the tests go smoothly, commercial operation will begin next year.

The line runs a total of 12.5 kilometers from Nhon in the western district of Nam Tu Liem through Kim Ma Street to the Hanoi Railway Station in downtown Le Duan Street.

The rest of its 4 km runs underground. Ten trains painted in the colors of the dragon fruit to operate on the route will arrive from France, the first of them in July.

The line was supposed to be completed in September 2017, but construction delays pushed back the deadline several times.

The capital’s first metro line between Cat Linh and Ha Dong is now in the final stage of safety evaluation with a 20-day test run proposed.