Pandemic delays Hanoi metro train arrival from France

By Dat Nguyen   June 29, 2020 | 05:49 pm PT
Pandemic delays Hanoi metro train arrival from France
A train of the Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station Metro Section seen in a factory in France. Photo courtesy of the Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board.
The first train for the Nhon - Hanoi Station metro will not arrive in July as planned after being delayed by the coronavirus outbreak.

The Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board (MBR) said in a statement that the train meant for the route would only arrive in Hai Phong port by the end of the year since the French consortium faces difficulties in shipping it.

This is the first of four trains being produced for the section out of a total of 10. The second is now ready for test runs and the third has just been completed.

Work to build the fourth began on May 11 after also being delayed as French factories closed from March 18 to early May. The factories have reopened but have difficulty sourcing parts as supply chains remain disrupted.

Each train will have four or five cars and have a maximum capacity of 950 passengers. The 10 together cost almost VND3 trillion ($129 million).

The Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station section, the second route after Cat Linh-Ha Dong, runs 12.5 kilometers from Nhon in the western district of Nam Tu Liem through Kim Ma Street to the city station in the downtown area.

It will run 8.5 kilometers on elevated tracks and the remaining four kilometers underground.

Construction was 62 percent complete as of earlier this month. The elevated tracks have been laid and the elevated sections are 80 percent complete.

Test runs are scheduled for the end of the year.

The work was supposed to be finished in September 2017, but delays pushed back the deadline several times.

The first route, Cat Linh–Ha Dong, is now in the final stage of safety evaluation with a 20-day test run in the works.

Construction progress of the Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station Metro Line in Hanoi in March 2020. Video by VnExpress/Giang Huy.

 
 
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