On January 13, the inauguration ceremony of the Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line in Hanoi, Vietnam, was held in the Cat Linh Station to mark the 72nd anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and Vietnam. The Southeast Asian country’s first urban light rail starts at the Cat Linh Station in Dong Da district and eventually ends at the Yen Nghia Station in Ha Dong district. Constructed by China Railway Sixth Group with EPC contract, it is the newest achievement of the synergy between China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Vietnam’s Two Corridors and One Belt strategy. It marks that Vietnam, a country where motorcycles are the most significant conveyance, is being driven into an era of green travel by light rails.

　　The handover of the light rail project was held on November 6, 2021, after which it has finished over 13,000 rides. Average daily passenger capacity of the light rail exceeds 15,000 and more than 1 million passengers have been safely carried. The maximum design speed of the trains is 80 km/h, and the average operating speed is 35 km/h. The maximum transportation capacity is 28,500 passengers per hour per direction, realizing a 20-minute convenient life-circle in the city.

　　The Hanoi light rail is also China’s first overseas urban light rail project that integrates design standards, construction, equipment and materials, supervision and operation consulting with “Chinese Standards” through the whole industrial chain. With a total length of 13 kilometers, the light rail can withstand an 8.0-magnitude earthquake. It is the only trunk line in Hanoi’s urban rail transit network.