At the information session on the operation results of the Cat Linh – Ha Dong urban railway after 2 years of operation in January 2024, Chairman of the Board of Directors – General Director of Hanoi Metro Company Limited TS Vu Hong Truong said that the Cat Linh – Ha Dong train started operating from November 6, 2021, and by January 2024 it had completed 26 months of operation, of which from November 6, 2023, the project had been under the management and safe operation of a team of Vietnamese management officials, technical staff, and train operators, specifically Hanoi Metro Company.
Regarding the operation results, Mr. Truong said that by the end of 2023 (after 26 months of operation), the Cat Linh – Ha Dong train had transported nearly 20 million passengers. In September 2023 alone, the train set three records.
The first record, on September 2, 2023, the train transported the highest number of passengers in a day ever, reaching 56 thousand;
The second record, on a working day, not a public holiday (September 28, 2023), the train carried 37 thousand passengers;
The third record in September, the train transported over 1 million passengers. Compared to other passenger transport modes, the fact that each route is transporting an average of 200 to 300 thousand passengers per month is encouraging for the Cat Linh – Ha Dong train.
The Cat Linh – Ha Dong passenger train is currently operated by the train drivers at Hanoi Metro Company
Changing passenger travel habits
Information on the daily number of passengers traveling by train showed that, in the past (when the train was newly operated), on weekends like Saturdays and Sundays, the train transported below 30 thousand passengers, but now on weekends this number is from 22 – 24 thousand passengers. However, on working days, the number of passengers is from 35 – 36 thousand.
“This shows that the number of passengers who use the train for actual needs, such as going to school and work, has decreased. This fact has also been reported by the Hanoi Department of Transport that congestion along the Cat Linh – Ha Dong route has been reduced,” Mr. Truong said.
When asked about the achievements of the Cat Linh – Ha Dong train operation, the Hanoi Metro leadership mentioned some prominent results, including:
The first result, the Cat Linh – Ha Dong train has proven in practice the superiority of fast, large, civilized, and modern transportation;
The second result, the most important result – the operation of the Cat Linh – Ha Dong train has changed travel habits and gradually established a modern, civilized transportation culture – that is, previously when approaching the stations to board the train, passengers often reacted, and even became upset because there was no place to park motorcycles and bicycles, but now many passengers choose to walk from 1 to 2 km to the station, to go to school or work;
The third result, after two years of operation, Hanoi Metro Company and Hanoi City have gradually built a team of urban railway operation managers in a professional manner, ready to operate, receive, and manage urban railway lines with modern technology and different techniques.
