The Ho Chi Minh City Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR), the developer of Ho Chi Minh City’s metro line No. 1, has reported to the municipal police that thieves had stolen equipment, tools, and supplies from their construction site.

In a report to MAUR in May, Chan Chun Construction Co. Ltd., the contractor in charge of the procurement of electromechanical equipment and maintenance, said 13,443 of its nearly 20,200 rail clamps had disappeared.

Rail clamps are devices that are attached to tracks to prevent or halt the movement of railroad cars past a given point, such as at platforms or on stub tracks, in order to avoid risk or danger.

All rail clamps had been fastened onto the rail ties by February 2021, according to Chan Chun, which finished its work on the project in November the same year.

Other contractors have continued their work on the project since, with only authorized personnel allowed to enter construction areas.

The MAUR has asked municipal police to trace the thieves and recover the stolen rail clamps.

The theft of the rail clamps is a signal that security around metro line No. 1 must be stepped up, particularly as it follows the vandalism of several railcars at Long Binh Depot in Thu Duc City.  

Metro line No. 1 is 19.7 kilometers long and includes 2.6 kilometers of underground railways and 17.1 kilometers of elevated tracks.

It runs from Ben Thanh Market in District 1 to Long Binh Depot through three underground stations and 11 above-ground stops.

The metro project, which started in August 2012, has a total investment of VND43.7 trillion (US$1.9 billion).

About 91 percent of the metro line has been completed so far.

The metro line is expected to be put into operation in late 2023.

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