A train of HCMC's metro line No.1 departs Ben Thanh underground station in District 1 at 9:15 a.m.
The station lies in front of the city’s iconic Ben Thanh Market.
For the first test run on the entire line, the train took three trips and the trial was completed at 12:30 p.m. One covered the entire 19.7-km line from Ben Thanh Station to Suoi Tien Station opposite the eponymous theme park in Thu Duc City, and the others covered 10 km from Ben Thanh to An Phu in Thu Duc.
The train continues to move underground to the Opera House Station, where it stops for five minutes to allow passengers to tour the underground station in front of the city's Opera House.
Truong looks out onto the scene outside as the train moves up to the elevated tracks.
"It's been such a long journey to ride the city's first metro line," he said.
"The train runs smoothly and the view is beautiful. I'm delighted as it will not be long until people can finally use the metro," he said.
Each metro train with three cars is 61.5 m long and can carry 930 passengers at speeds of 110 kph on the elevated section and 80 kph in the underground section.
However, for the Tuesday test run, it ran slower than the top speed and the number of passengers was limited to around 30 on each trip.
Nguyen Thi Lan Phuong, 28, currently a trainee of a course to operate the metro line, takes a snap of the view while riding the metro.
This is the second time she has joined a test run of HCMC's first metro line.
"I learned new experience through each test run to do my job better," she said.
The train at Tan Cang Station in Binh Thanh District.
Line No.1 has had three trial runs earlier, and all were conducted on elevated sections of the track.
The first test run late last year was a trip of nearly nine kilometers with the train stopping at five stations. The second was on April 15 with government officials and the third was on April 27.
The train returns to District 1 from Thu Duc as it passes by Landmark 81, the tallest building in the country.
