Cat Linh - Ha Dong metro line welcomes 7.2m passengers in a year of commercial operations

After nearly a year of operation, Hanoi's first metro project, the Cat Linh - Ha Dong urban railway has welcomed more than 7.2 million passengers.

Also known as the 2A line, the metro line is seeing on average 32,000 passengers daily, of which 70% use monthly tickets.

Deputy Director of the Hanoi Public Transport Management Centre Thai Ho Phuong said that in the past nine months, the metro line has served over 5.4 million passengers, earning 47 billion VND (1.9 million USD) in revenue and exceeding the plan by 5%.

The city’s public transport capacity has also increased to over 30%. The goal is that this figure will rise to 35% by 2025.

According to transport expert Le Trung Hieu, following a year of official operation, the 2A line has achieved four major goals of safety, attracting passengers and reducing the use of personal vehicles, gaining experience in urban railway management and operation, while clearing all doubts on urban rail lines.

However, the number of passengers now only reaches 15% of the line’s capacity, requiring the completion of the public transport network to utilise the full potential of urban railways, Phuong noted.

Vu Hon Tuong, director general of the Hanoi Metro One Member Ltd. Co. – the line operator, said that there are seven groups of tasks for the effective management of urban railways.

Those are the organisational model, recruitment and human resources, the process for system maintenance and operation, fare policies, pilot programme and support in the initial operation, and subsidy preparation.

Truong said: “From the success story and experience of the Cat Linh - Ha Dong metro line, we are confident that Nhon – Hanoi Station line will go into operation effectively and successfully.”

Regarding traffic connection, Deputy Director Phuong said that there are 65 bus stops along the metro route.

Cat Linh Station (the starting point) has 16 bus lines, while Yên Nghĩa Station (the end point) has 18.

However, the limited infrastructure is still an obstacle to setting up parking lots for passengers, as well as the connection with the city’s public transport network, Giao Thong (Transport) newspaper reported.

The Cat Linh - Ha Dong metro line measures 13.05km, consisting of 12 elevated stations and 13 trains.

While its maximum speed is 80km per hour, the trains run at 35km per hour during normal operation. The average waiting time for passengers is between six to ten minutes.

The total capital of the urban railway project was over 18 trillion VND (868 million USD), which included funding from China and the local budget.

The metro line went into operation on November 6 last year, offering free rides for the first 15 days.

As part of the public transport system, the line’s ticket pricing currently receives subsidy from the capital city’s budget.