Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Vietnam Register Authority under the Ministry of Transport announcedit has completed the assessment and issued technical safety and environmentalprotection certification for 13 trains and other related components of the CatLinh-Ha Dong urban railway, Hanoi’s long-delayed first metro project.

Theannouncement came four days after the project started whole-system test runs on December 12lasting through the end of 2020, eyeing commercial operations by March 2021.

Theinspected items include an actual composition of each of the train’s equipmentand components (in both idle and moving state) and checking them against theapproved planning and national standards on imported rail components.

Thevehicles passing the technical standards verification will be certified to beoperated.

Afterthe independent French consulting firm Apave-Certifier-Tricc consortiumfinished their assessment, the Vietnam Register would have a final verificationand issue certification proving the safety of the whole system before the metroproject can commence official operations.

Oncegiven the green light, the project will be handed over to the Hanoi authoritiesto manage.

Safetyassessment includes reliability, readiness, serviceability and safety ofvehicle system, train control signaling, plans to evacuate passengers in casesof emergency (on the elevated rail lines and in the stations), smoke and heatmanagement systems and ventilation inside tunnels, electricity compatibility,system integration, test operations, and safety controls.

Duringthe 20-day trial, every day there will be a total of 287 train journeys,running from 5am to 11pm, with the frequency of one trip every 5-6 minutesduring rush hours, just like the commercial operations.

Accordingto the design, the Cat Linh-Ha Dong urban metro project has a mainline of morethan 13km elevated rail line, 12 stations and 13 trains.

Eachtrain has four cars, capable of carrying more than 900 people, with the designspeed of 80km/h but the commercial run’s speed would be capped at an average of35km/h.

Previously,at the Standing meeting of the Government on the implementation of the Hanoiurban railway projects, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The pledged theproject would enter commercial operations in the first quarter of 2021, fouryears after the original finishing date.

Theproject, which commenced in October 2011, with an investment capital of about 18trillion VND from China’s official development assistance to Vietnam, hassuffered numerous setbacks and delays.

Mostrecently, hundreds of Chinese technicians and experts have been unable to leaveChina or enter Vietnam to work on the project due to border closure policies inplace in the previous months.

TheHanoi People’s Committee has announced the price of the tickets for the CatLinh-Ha Dong metro, with the lowest one being 8,000 VND for a trip and 30,000VND for a day pass.

Amonth pass for the common passenger is priced 200,000 VND./.