The first metro of Ho Chi Minh City will be manufactured based on the feedback on the made-in-Japan metro mock-up that is on display, the city Urban Railway Management Board said.

The metro’s cabin and carriage simulator, which has been delivered to Vietnam from Japanese contractor Hitachi, has been on view at a depot on Road 11, Long Binh Ward, District 9 for the past two weeks. The board has so far received more than 350 people who came to watch the mock-up and provide their opinions in feedback forms.      Accordingly, among the 285 opinions given for the shape of the metro, 122 rate it as “good”, 115 evaluates it as “fairly good”, 30 consider it “medium” and 9 regard it as “bad”. Regarding the color of the metro, 147 people assess it as “good” while only 8 says it is bad. Out of the 271 opinions on the distance from the handrail in the passenger carriage, 139 rate it as good and only 4 say it is not appropriate. Most of the opinions also are in favor of the color and the shape of passenger seats, the board said.  

Inside the metro cabin simulator. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Vu Anh Tuan, one of the viewers of the metro sample,   commented that the handrails in the passenger carriage should be re-located so that the users will not stand too close to the passengers who are sitting below them. Do Thanh Tuan, also a sightseer, suggested that each carriage    be equipped with a clock, while Pham Thi Hai Binh, another viewer, recommends that the cabin be in an aerodynamic shape. Regarding Binh’s opinion, Bui Xuan Cuong, head of the Urban Railway Management Board, said the metro on display is an urban metro train, not an express train.

Therefore, in order to provide its driver with the best vision, the metro should not be aerodynamic shaped, Cuong said. However, the appearance of cabin will be adjusted to make it more beautiful, he added. He also said that his agency will invite scientists and experts to give their comments and recommendations to the mock-up from now to April 15. The board will then classify, analyze and evaluate all these opinions from both the public and specialists to make report on   how the mock up should be modified and submit the report to the city People’s Committee for consideration.  

The passenger carriage model. Photo: Tuoi Tre

After getting the opinion of the committee, the board will ask Hitachi to manufacture a metro under a design that is considered the best in the city. The mock-up is part of bid package No. 3 of the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line project, carried out by Hitachi to procure electromechanical equipment, the cabin and wagons, the metro rail, and maintenance worth 39.4 billion Japanese yen (US$328 million). The metro line will be 19.7 km long, running from District 1 through Binh Thanh District, District 2, District 9 and Thu Duc District in Ho Chi Minh City before reaching Di An Town in neighboring Binh Duong Province. Total investment in the project is estimated at 236.6 billion Japanese yen ($1.97 billion), which comes from loans from Japan and the city’s budget. The metro line, which broke ground in August 2012, is slated to be completed in 2019 and put into operation in 2020, when it can transport about 186,000 passengers per day, according to the board.

A similar metro system is under construction in Hanoi, with work beginning in 2010 and the first line scheduled to come on stream next year.

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