Hitachi Ltd.Co. signs an agreement with Management Authority for Urban Railways for providing electrical and mechanical equipment on Viet Nam's first Urban Railway Line 1 (Ben Thanh – Suoi Tien) in HCM City. — VNS Photo

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — Japan's Hitachi, Ltd. signed an agreement today with HCM City People's Committee's Management Authority for Urban Railways for providing electrical and mechanical equipment on Viet Nam's first Urban Railway Line 1 (Ben Thanh – Suoi Tien) in HCM City.

The contract has a total value of approximately 37 billion JPY (US$376.59 milion).

Under the agreement, Hitachi is to deliver subsystems including 17 trains with a total of 51 cars, signaling system, telecommunication system including wireless train radio system, and power supply system, as well as platform screen doors, automatic fare collection system, and depot facilities.

Hitachi will undertake five years maintenance work after the start of commercial operations, of which details is to be stipulated in the separate agreement at later stage.

Urban Railway Line 1 is a new urban railway scheduled to begin operations in early 2018. Plans call for the construction of a railway track with a total length of 19.7km (including both underground and elevated tracks) connecting the center of HCM City with Nord-East gateway of the city, where there are bus terminals towards northern provinces.

This project represents Viet Nam's first full-scale urban railway project, and Japan International Cooperation Agency has pledged to provide Special Terms for Economic Partnership Official Development Assistance.

Hitachi will continue activities aimed at expanding business opportunities for the many urban railways currently being planned in HCM City and Ha Noi.

Hitachi will also accelerate the global rollout of its railway business, in an effort to further expand sales activities for urban railway projects in Viet Nam and other countries in Southeast Asia.

In Viet Nam, the rapid increase in traffic volumes resulting from economic growth has become a serious issue, and public transportation is expected to contribute to resolving traffic congestion and protecting the environment.

Under this circumstance, the Vietnamese government has made plans for the construction of several urban railways in HCM City. This project represents the first phase of these plans.

Headquartered in Japan, Hitachi Ltd. is a leading global electronics company with approximately 326,000 employees worldwide.

Hitachi is focusing on the Social Innovation Business, which includes infrastructure systems, information and telecommunication systems, power systems, construction machinery, high functional material and components, automotive systems and others. — VNS