The Cat Linh-Ha Dong urban railway, the first of its kind in Hanoi, began a 20-day test run on December 12 for safety evaluation, the final requirement for the start of commercial operations, Kinh te & Do thi Newspaper reported.

A representative of the Hanoi Metro Co. Ltd., said that the first train departed from Yen Nghia station in Ha Dong district on the 13-km route to Cat Linh in the downtown district of Dong Da. At each station the trains stopped for 30 seconds.

“The Vietnamese employees have practiced for emergency drills since November 4 under the supervision of the Chinese experts. Vietnamese conductors are now capable of controlling the trains independently," the representative added.

A train of the Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line runs over the Hoang Cau lake in Hanoi during the first day of a 20-day trial run.

Thirteen trains will run from 5:00 am until 11:00 pm every day and at an average speed of 35 kilometers per hour.

A train with four cars and a capacity of 900 passengers takes 30 minutes to complete the trip.

All the stations have Vietnamese staff on duty in the control room, ticket office and platform to guide passengers.

Nearly 200 experts from the Chinese general contractor and the contractors in charge of installing the equipment are also present to monitor the test.

The test run will help French consultancy Apave-Certifier-Tricc evaluate the safety and precision of the system.

Depending on the outcome, the French consultancy will issue the safety certificate for the project in the next quarter. The Ministry of Transport will then hand over the metro to Hanoi authorities to operate.

Work on the Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line began in 2011 and was originally scheduled for completion in 2013. But several hurdles, including loan disbursement issues with China that were only resolved in December 2017, have stalled it for years.

The government worked hard to bring them back and hoped commercial operation could begin this year.