Inside the 'heart' of metro line 1 before commercial operation

These days, workers at Long Binh depot are busy working to serve the commercial operation of metro line 1 (Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien).

Long Binh Depot of metro line No. 1 Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien is located in Long Binh ward, Thu Duc city, is the largest train control, maintenance and repair center in Ho Chi Minh City.

Currently, 17 trains have gathered at Long Binh depot to connect electrical equipment. Each train can carry 930 passengers including 147 seated passengers and 783 standing passengers.

Long Binh Depot includes operations and maintenance buildings, main workshop and train parking lot with 30 tracks (equivalent to 30 6-car trains).

Each railway line has a drainage ditch running parallel.

Mr. Mai Van Chanh (train driver manager of Metro Line 1) checks the cockpit area. Before operating the train, the driver must perform a safety check. This process takes 30 - 40 minutes every day.

When put into operation, the first train will depart from Long Binh depot every day, go to the stations to pick up passengers and then proceed to Ben Thanh station. Therefore, smooth coordination between the stages is extremely important.

At the end of the day, after operating time, the metro trains will return to Long Binh depot for technical staff to inspect and maintain.

The investor of metro line 1 said that this area always has hundreds of workers working and has two layers of tight security, along with many security cameras to ensure the safety of the trains.

Inside the workshop with a system of frames and cranes to install the necessary machinery for train repair. The workshop floor is divided into many 1.43m gauge rails for trains to run on.

Some rails have grooves about 1.5m deep so that workers can easily crawl down to repair them. Signal lights are installed on the rails to ensure safety when repairing and maintaining trains.

Near the workshop is the train washing area, which has completed the rails, frame, water pipes, sanitation system, and signal lights.

In the control room, 6 employees of the first shift (24 employees in total) entered the room, sat in front of the computer to prepare for the first train of the day. This is the connection point between other points, lines and departments in the general operation chain of metro line 1.

In the room, there are 5 rows of computers with large screens to update and monitor operational information. Each row of computers has 1 to 2 staff in charge of departments such as: commercial - passenger dispatch, traffic (responsible for the entire route), depot dispatch (responsible for taking trains for maintenance, cleaning, traffic support when incidents occur), equipment (monitoring all equipment on the system).

The remaining work of the Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien urban railway project No. 1 (metro No. 1) is being focused on by the relevant parties. It is expected that on December 22, this metro line will officially be put into commercial operation.