Engineers and workers are wrapping up the final stages of Ho Chi Minh City’s metro line No. 1 as its first test run is expected to be carried out this year.

The Ho Chi Minh City Management Authority of Urban Railways (MAUR) said on Tuesday that contractors are completing the metro line No. 1 project in preparation for welcoming its first trains.

The nearly 20-kilometer metro line connects Ben Thanh Terminal in District 1 with Suoi Tien Terminal in District 9, with an extension that runs to the new Mien Dong (Eastern) Bus Terminal in neighboring Binh Duong Province.

Over 82 percent of the above-ground infrastructure serving metro line No. 1 has been finished, MAUR said, adding that the construction is expected to reach 90 percent this year.

Currently, MAUR and the contractors are working hard to speed up such works as installation of roofing and walls at the Long Binh Depot to welcome the first shipment of trains from Japan.

Long Binh Depot is the metro line’s technical and servicing station situated in a 22-hectare area spanning from District 9 in Ho Chi Minh City to Di An City in Binh Duong Province.

Metro line No. 1 will have a total of 17 three-car trains, all of which are manufactured by Japan’s Hitachi Company.

The trains had begun undergoing final technical inspections in Japan, MAUR announced on April 11.

Hitachi hopes to complete the testing phase in the next few months and deliver the first trains to Vietnam in the second quarter of the year.

Rolling stock testing will take place this year on the line’s above-ground section between Binh Thai Intersection and Long Binh Depot in District 9.

Progress has also been made in the staffing of the line, with the operator announcing the recruitment for training of 58 train drivers on April 6.

Metro line No. 1 runs 19.7 kilometers through District 1, District 2, District 9, Binh Thanh District, and Thu Duc District in Ho Chi Minh City, to neighboring Binh Duong Province.

The project has a capital investment of VND46.3 trillion (US$1.98 billion), and includes 11 above-ground and three underground stations.

The city plans to launch commercial service on the line by the end of 2021, an MAUR representative said.

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