The Sky’s the Limit: Unveiling the Nhon-Hanoi Railway’s Commercial Operation

Previously, on the afternoon of August 2, 2024, at the Nhon Depot, the State Council for Construction Acceptance inspected the site and organized a meeting to evaluate the acceptance of the completion of the pilot urban railway project in Hanoi, the Nhon – Hanoi Station section.

Up to now, the packages of the elevated section of the project have been constructed to meet the design requirements, and the work of quality management and acceptance has been carried out in accordance with regulations. The operation and trial operation of the system meet the technical and project contract requirements. Procedures related to fire protection, environment, and system safety have been carried out and approved by the competent state agency.

Since the project’s implementation, the Council’s standing agency has organized 21 on-site inspections of the project, inspecting quality management, construction documents, and acceptance of work packages, six of which have been conducted since the beginning of 2024.

Through on-site inspection results, reports from the investor (Hanoi Urban Railway Management Board) and related parties, the opinion of the Council members assessed that the elevated section of the investment project to build a pilot urban railway in Hanoi, the Nhon – Hanoi Station section, basically meets the conditions for the Council to consider approving the investor’s acceptance results as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 23 of Decree No. 06/2021/ND-CP dated January 26, 2021, of the Government.

The Council’s standing agency noted that before putting the project into operation, the investor needs to request the contractors and related parties to organize a review of all systems and auxiliary equipment to ensure readiness, meet the requirements for normal operation, and ensure safety during operation and exploitation; and perform industrial cleaning of the entire elevated section before handing it over to the Hanoi Railway One-Member Limited Company.

In addition, the Hanoi People’s Committee needs to direct the Hanoi Railway One-Member Limited Company to coordinate with the investor in receiving and handing over to ensure the readiness of the project operation, organize a review of human resource preparation to serve the train operation, and implement operation and exploitation according to the approved operation process and train schedule.

Based on the opinions of the Council members and representatives of related parties at the meeting, on behalf of the Council, Deputy Minister of Construction Bui Xuan Dung, Vice Chairman of the Council, concluded and agreed to accept the elevated section of the Nhon – Hanoi Railway project with conditions. The Hanoi People’s Committee shall decide on the time to put the project into operation to meet the requirements for operation and ensure safety.

When officially put into operation, the pilot urban railway project in Hanoi, the Nhon – Hanoi Station section, will bring a modern, safe, fast, and environmentally friendly public transport means. The line will help people save time and travel costs and connect urban areas, facilitating the green and sustainable socio-economic development.

The pilot urban railway project in Hanoi, the Nhon – Hanoi Station section, runs on a dedicated road with a total main route length of 12.5 km (8.5 km on the elevated section and about 4.0 km underground) with the route: Nhon starting point – along National Highway 32 – Cau Dien – Mai Dich – intersection with Ring Road 3 – Cau Giay (intersection with Ring Road 2) – Kim Ma – Cat Linh – Quoc Tu Giam – Hanoi Station endpoint (on Tran Hung Dao Street, in front of Hanoi Station).

The railway has a double track with a width of 1,435mm; UIC 60 standard European rails/sleepers or equivalent; the station system includes 8 elevated stations (S1 to S8) and 4 underground stations (S9 to S12), including 2 transfer stations; transport means: locomotives and carriages of type B (European standard) with a width of 2.7m; train length of 78.3m (4 carriages); the depot area is 15.05 ha, located in Tay Tuu and Minh Khai wards, Bac Tu Liem district.