VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Transport (MoT) issued a press release yesterday (July 3) saying that the controversial wavy line of an under-construction urban railway project observes technical standards.

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The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has said the under-construction Cat Linh-Ha Dong urban railway project observes technical standards. 

 

According to the release, the 13-km Cat Linh-Ha Dong Urban Railway project, which has stirred public debates lately as it is being built in a wavy instead of straight line, has been examined for all criteria. It has been found to meet the technical standards to ensure safety once it becomes operational, the release added.

The project is built following China's Code for Design of Metro GB50157, in which a slope is allowed from 0 to 30 per mille of the total stretch. In the case of Cat Linh-Ha Dong Urban Railway, the slope for arrival and departure at each station has been measured maximally at 23 per mille, the allowed range.

The MoT assured that the project will become operational only once it passes every safety requirement.

The Cat Linh-Ha Dong Urban Railway project is built in EPC (engineering-procurement-construction) mode under China's official development assistance in line with a contract signed in 2008 between the governments of Viet Nam and China.

The railway line has been designed on the 1,435mm-track gauge with 12 stations. Under the project, 13 Chinese-made trains were purchased recently, which will be operated on the frequency of one train every two minutes. The designed speed is 35kmph.

Previously, when the public raised questions about the logic and safety of the wavy line, Le Van Duong, deputy director of the project management unit, said that the rails were deliberately designed that way to optimise the operation of trains in terms of efficacy and energy consumption.

He explained that the railroad's design was based on the principle that a train went up when entering a station, which requires braking, and went down when leaving the station, when it needs to speed up.

Source: VNS