‘Dragon fruit’ train to color Hanoi metro line

The train is painted in light green, red and white, mimicking the colors of the dragon fruit, a highly symbolical produce of Vietnam, said French rail contractor Alstom.

"The train car's front design is one of the most modern we've ever created," said a project director of Alstom at a memorandum signing ceremony between the firm and Hanoi People's Committee.

Each train designed for the Nhon-Hanoi line will include four cars, with a total length of 78.27 meters. They will offer 94 seats in total and have a capacity of 950 passengers.

Testing of the first train will be performed at Alstom’s workshop in Valenciennes, France starting November, said the memorandum. It would then be transferred to Vietnam next June to be installed with audio-visual and signal systems.

The Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station route, the capital's second metro line after Cat Linh-Ha Dong, would run 12.5 kilometers from the Nhon area in the western district of Nam Tu Liem, via Kim Ma Street to Hanoi Railway Station on Le Duan Street.

It will run 8.5 kilometers on elevated tracks through eight stations and the remaining four kilometers underground. The underground track is scheduled to begin operations in 2023, while the elevated track would open in 2021.

The project has a total investment of VND36 trillion ($1.56 billion), which has been sourced from official development assistance (ODA) funds, and is now 50 percent complete.

Hanoi's first metro line started its 20-day commercial operation run for inspection purposes on Monday.