(VOVWORLD) - The Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line was inaugurated and put into commercial operation Saturday following a ceremony of handover and reception of the project between the Ministry of Transport and the Hanoi authority.
The line, which runs from Cat Linh to Ha Dong district, is the first urban railway put into operation in the country.
Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong said, 'The Cat Linh-Ha Dong urban metro line will help ease transport in western Hanoi and create a motivation for the local socio-economic development. To make line work smoothly and efficiently, the Ministry of Transport assigned the Railway Project Management Board to work closely with the EPC contractor and the Hanoi Metro Company in the initial period and ensure regular maintenance of the line.'
With total investment of approximately 886 million USD, funded by Chinese ODA, the elevated line is more than 13 km long and has 12 stations and 13 trains. Each train, whose designed speed is 80 km per hour, has four carriages capable of carrying over 900 passengers.
The trial run was completed in December 2020, with more than 70,000 km of tests on thousands of trips, enabling the system to operate commercially.
The Hanoi People’s Committee has announced the price of the tickets for the Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro, with the lowest one being 8,000 VND (0.35 USD) for a trip and 30,000 VND for a day pass. A monthly pass for a common passenger is priced at 200,000 VND.
Hanoi will offer free travel for all passengers during the first 15 days after the line is put into operation.