First Light Rail Goes Through a Successful Trial Operation in Vietnam --- Another Step Forward Abroad for China’s Urban Rail Transit Industry！

According to national media like Xinhua News Agency and people.com.cn, the Jiling—Hedong light rail constructed in Hanoi, Vietnam by Chinese enterprises underwent a trial operation on Sep. 20, laying a foundation for the commercial operation in the days ahead. Representatives from the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport (MOT), Chinese Embassy to Vietnam and the construction units attended the trial operation ceremony and took a trial ride.

Vietnamese MOT Vice Minister Ruan Yudong said that the trial operation is an important milestone for the light rail projects and that the modern light rail will facilitate the travel of people of Hanoi. He hoped that both Chinese and Vietnamese partners will make close cooperation to constantly debug and improve the equipment and the light rail system to have a complete preparation for the operation on the commercial basis in the days to come.  

Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam Hu Suojing said that the jiling—hedong light rail is the first of its kind in Vietnam and is also a large project with loans provided by China and for the benefit of the people. He said that the official operation of the line will alleviate the traffic pressure to a large extent and that the line will contribute to the promotion of“Belt and Road”cooperation and the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Vietnam.

Chinese Equipment   Chinese Standard   Chinese Loans

According to UCD, constructor of the light rail, Chinese standards and norms, equipment and loans have been used for the said light rail.

The project was started in October, 2011. With a total length of about 13 kilometers and the investment coming to 868 million US dollars, the light rail has been equipped with 12 stops, being of significance to the enhancement of the traffic networks in Hanoi and the promotion of the regional economic development.

The unobstructed operation of the project has made contributions and accumulated experiences for both Chinese standards and Chinese enterprises to go global.

UCD’s Advanced Design Philosophy as a Guarantee

According to UCD, the jiling—hedong light rail is a priority trunk line chosen from the rail transit construction projects in Hanoi

A rail yard has been set up for the line, situated in the southeast of Hedong Railway Station, with an area of 26.2 hectares or so.

The most advanced technologies have been adopted for the design of the light rail. Featured by T-shaped single column bridge, the stops are all made into two-leveled stations of spatially framed structure. With the gauge being 1435 mm wide, the train consists of 4 vehicles, 2 of which are motor cars and the others are trailers, and the highest speed is 80km/h. 26 pairs of trains will go into operation during rush hours in the future. There are 14 equipment systems, including power supply, contact rail, SCADA, communication, signaling, power lighting, water supply and drainage, fire fighting, HVAC, FAS, AFC, escalator, depot technology, track, sound barrier, etc.

The jiling—hedong line mainly reflects in its design the concept of“meeting the functions and being safe, reliable, mature, good-looking, rapid and practical”.

Win-Win Cooperation | Way for Chinese Light Rail Design to Go Global

At the start of the project, UCD made preliminary investigations over the engineering construction market in Vietnam to find that Vietnam’s engineering construction technologies and capabilities are quite in arrears of those in China. In terms of construction standards, Vietnam has translated and introduced a raft of Chinese norms and standards to be used as its own construction standards and, thanks to the similarities in cultures and systems of the two countries, the investigation findings finally gave UCD an optimistic conclusion, which convinced UCD of its capabilities to be brought into full play in Vietnam.

When the design was started after the conclusion of the contract between UCD and the Vietnamese side, UCD found through contact with the Vietnamese counterparts that design systems of the two countries differ a lot. Vietnam follows a design system akin to a European or American system, and there is a world of difference in terms of the most fundamental scope of design, design responsibility, division of design periods, design management patterns, etc.

Through concerted efforts, UCD and the Vietnamese side worked out together a project design management system acceptable to both parties.

As the proprietor, Vietnam has no experiences in urban rail transit construction and is technology-starved in terms of the urban rail transit. They must comprehend the design documents and related technological issues in order to ensure the design results suit the local benefits.

Likewise, the Chinese designer must learn to adapt to the Vietnamese design management processes and abandon its established operating habits and experiences in many aspects. At the same time, the Chinese designer should guide the Vietnamese partner to learn Chinese technical schemes and standards, and to understand Chinese design intents and concepts.

Take the signaling system as an example. In the course of technology design and construction, UCD reported successively 5 versions of design documents from the most preliminary dot-mode AT to the wireless-communication-technology-based（CBTC）ATC.

    At present, the CBTC system adopted for the light rail of Hanoi designed and constructed by UCD is an advanced signaling system in the world. Under such a system, the tracking interval can reach up to 90 seconds, substantially enhancing the section carrying capacity. The Vietnamese side has greatly affirmed the efforts made by UCD.

The successful completion of the jiling—hedong light rail in Hanoi has not only made contributions for the Chinese standards to go global, but has also accumulated international engineering experiences in practice, tempered a number of ingenious, responsible, and tenacious international design teams, thus laying a solid foundation for Chinese enterprises to open up more international markets. 

It is reported that quite a number of public media, such as VTV，NguoiLaoDong, VTC, VOV, Vietnam Net, VNExpress, Parliament TV Station, and Hanoi’s local TV stations, made a coverage of the light rail trial operation.