the Ministry of Transport said that these recommendations were given in the initial period of safety evaluation and the project was issued a safety certificate by the consulting firm in late April.

A train of the Cat Linh-Ha Dong railway system. The Ministry of Transport affirmed that these recommendations from a French consulting firm about the safety of the Hanoi’s railway project were given in the initial period of safety evaluation and the project was issued a safety certificate by the consulting firm in late April – Photo: TNO

The State Council for Acceptance of Construction Works is in the process of checking the project, the first-of-its-kind in Hanoi City, and accepting the results of the evaluation, so that it can be handed over to the Hanoi government for commercial operation, according to the ministry.

In late April, the Railway Project Management Board under the Ministry of Transport and Metro Hanoi Co., Ltd completed the handover of documents and checked the assets of the project.

The ministry, the Hanoi government and the relevant units coordinated over acting on the safety recommendations of the French consultant.

ACT had earlier presented 16 recommendations on the risks of the safety of traction systems, electric brake systems and poor readiness of staff in emergencies. In addition, ACT said that the Chinese contractor did not provide sufficient documents related to the safety of the operations of the rail line, while the fire system and the viaduct system were yet to be guaranteed safe.

When testing 10 emergency procedures of the metro line, eight failed, according to the consulting firm.

As such, ACT said that if the project is put into operation, the investor must accept the safety risks and other consequences, the local media reported.

After receiving the recommendations, the ministry said that they were aimed at preventing risks during the operation of the project. The investors and relevant units have addressed and fixed these problems based on these recommendations, the ministry added.

The project was certified as safe by the Vietnam Fire and Rescue Police Department, while Metro Hanoi Co. tackled 64 procedures for handling emergency situations and additional signposts for disabled people.

The 13-kilometer Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line project has 12 stations and 13 trains with four cars each.

SGT

Cat Linh-Ha Dong Urban Railway project consultant lacks fire safety certification

The Chinese consultant firm for the Cat Linh-Ha Dong Urban Railway project does not have fire safety consultation and supervisory certification granted by a Vietnamese authority,