Number of passengers up 262 pct in Q1 on China-built metro line in Vietnam

HANOI, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The soaring popularity of a China-built metro line in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi was revealed on Tuesday as official figures showed a 262 percent increase in passengers in the first three months this year from a year earlier, Vietnam News Agency reported.

About 2.65 million passengers used the Cat Linh-Ha Dong urban elevated railway in the first quarter, translating into an average number of daily passengers of 32,000 on weekdays and between 26,000 and 28,000 on weekends. The number of daily passengers with a monthly pass reached about 10,000 travelers, according to the news agency.

The line has proved to be transformational for people in a city struggling with congestion and the huge numbers of passengers using the accessible trains is a real testament to the urban rail line, said Vu Hong Truong, chief executive of Hanoi Metro, a state-owned company for railway operation and maintenance.

"Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro has helped change the commuting habits of people and gradually encouraged the culture of using public transport which is safe, reliable and friendly," Truong added.

The country's first urban railway, which opened through the western districts of Hanoi, carried more than 7.2 million passengers during the first year of operation.

The Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line measures 13.05 km and has 12 elevated stations and 13 trains.

While its maximum speed is 80 km per hour, the trains run at 35 km per hour during normal operation. The average waiting time for passengers is six to 10 minutes.