Valenciennes (AFP)
The Deputy Secretary General of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Tran Quoc Vuong, visited Saturday the factory Alstom Valenciennes (North), which completes the assembly of the first train of a subway line to Hanoi scheduled for 2022.
The French groups Alstom, Thales and Colas Rail (Bouygues), together in a consortium, won in January 2017 a contract worth a total of 265 million euros with the Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board (MRB) to provide a metro in the Vietnamese capital of about 7 million inhabitants.
This line 3 will span 12.5 kilometers, will include 12 stations and is expected to carry more than 23,900 passengers per hour and direction.
The railway manufacturer is to supply ten trains, the Urbalis 4001 signaling system and the supply of power and equipment to the depot.
"Line 3 occupies a very important place in cooperation (between France and Vietnam), it is a visibility of France in Hanoi, a city that faces many challenges, especially in transport and the fight against pollution, "said AFP the ambassador of Vietnam in France, Thiep Nguyen.
Alstom's share of this contract amounts to nearly 190 million euros. Between 20 and 30 Vietnamese drivers should come to train in Valenciennes from next summer.
During the visit of the Vietnamese delegation, Olivier Loison, General Manager of Alstom for China and East Asia, and Nguyen Duc Chung, Chairman of the People's Committee of Hanoi and Mayor of Hanoi, signed a memorandum of understanding. "agreement" to promote further collaboration between the two parties for the installation of new systems in the Vietnamese capital, "said Alstom in a statement.
© 2019 AFP