Hanoi (VNA) – Communication works should be carried out in aneffective manner to raise public awareness of the important role of the urbanrailway to the city’s development, according to Chairman of the Hanoi RailwayOne Member Limited Company Vu Hong Truong.

At a talk held in Hanoi on September 26 as part of the “media support for Hanoiurban railway” project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Truong saidthat railway has been billed as the backbone of the transport system in largeurban areas in the world.

Developing urban railway system in Hanoi is an urgent issue as the city isfacing serious traffic congestion and environmental pollution, he stressed.

Standing Deputy Head of the Hanoi Municipal Party Committee’s Commission forEducation and Popularisation Pham Thanh Hoc said that the Cat Linh-Ha Dongelevated railway, the first of its kind in Hanoi, began trial run on September20 and is expected start operation before the Lunar New Year holiday 2019.

It has drawn attention from the public who are interested in the railway’soperation and connection to other means of public transportation, he added.

Regarding human resources for the railway route, Truong said that 80 percent ofthe workers received training at Tokyo Metro and Beijing Metro, adding onlyqualified labourers are allowed to serve the project.

The Cat Linh-Ha Dong railway will operate 144 trains per day, and each cancarry up to 1,000 passengers during rush hours, Truong underlined, adding thatthe company has worked out plan to arrange bus stops and other means of publictransportation along the railway line, helping transport railway passengers toand from other areas of the city.

The official also said that the fares willbe 3 percent higher than those of normal buses.

TheCat Linh-Ha Dong elevated railway in the capital cityi began a trial run onSeptember 20 morning. According to the project’s management board, the railwaywill be tested for 3-6 months until it is ready for official operation.

SinceAugust, the general contractor has carried out tests on equipment, such aschecking the power supply, information and signal systems as well as runningeach train, said the project management board. The move aims to ensure that theentire project has achieved the technical standards as designed, it said,adding that the inspection has been completed.

Therailway system is being trialed at night, running at full load with the operationof stations and passenger service facilities. All the 13 trains are put intooperation simultaneously. Trains start from Yen Nghia station in Ha Dongdistrict to Cat Linh station in Dong Da district and stop at each station forone minute.

During the early stage of the trial, the trains run every 10-12 minutes ataverage speeds of 30-35km per hour. In the commercial exploitation period, thetime gap between two trips will be gradually reduced to five minutes asdesigned.

The railway line stretches over 13km, linking Cat Linh street in Dong Dadistrict in Hanoi downtown with Yen Nghia bus station in Ha Dong district. Itincludes 12 stations and a depot at Phu Luong ward in Ha Dong district.-VNA