Alstom puts exceptional logistics in place to deliver its metros for Hanoi Metro Line 3

27 November 2020 – Alstom today began shipping the second of the ten 4-car metro trains that will equip the new Line 3 of the Hanoi metro. Designed and manufactured at the Alstom site of Valenciennes, exceptional logistics have been put in place to transport this metro to Hanoi, where it is expected to arrive in January 2021. The 8 other metro trains will all be delivered to Hanoi in time for the start of commercial service, which is scheduled for 2021.

Transporting the Hanoi metros is one of the most complex operations carried out by Alstom's Exceptional Transport department, which is responsible for managing and purchasing the train deliveries. More than a year's preparation was necessary to organise these deliveries: defining the most suitable transport solution, designing and manufacturing specific handling tools and obtaining authorisations in France and Vietnam were some of the key stages of this transport operation. This is a real team effort between the Valenciennes site, the Alstom teams in Vietnam, and the many subcontractors involved in this project, most of whom are French.

The delivery of the metro to its final destination requires 6 lifting operations per car, each one weighing between 34 and 40 tonnes, and a transit time of 2 months. At the Valenciennes site, after separation and preparation of the 4 cars, which are approximately 20 metres long, they are loaded onto extendable trailers using cranes to transport them to the port of Dunkirk, located just over one hundred kilometres away. Thanks to its partners and subcontractors, including the company Geodis and the dock workers of the port of Dunkirk, the 4 cars are then loaded by lifting them more than 40m high aboard a container ship belonging to the French shipping company CMA CGM. After a crossing of just over a month between Dunkirk and Port Klang in Malaysia, the 4 cars will be unloaded and then transhipped on board a ship bound for the port of Haiphong (Vietnam). The last leg of the journey to the depot in Hanoi will take about ten more days.

The Hanoi metro is one of Alstom's projects designed and manufactured in France for international markets. Export projects make up 40% of the sales made by Alstom's sites in France. The metro is a showcase for French industrial expertise and contributes to the workload of the six Alstom sites in France directly involved in executing this project: Valenciennes for the design and manufacture of the metros, Ornans for the engines, Le Creusot for the bogies, Tarbes for the electrical cabinets and traction systems, Saint-Ouen for the Urbalis^TM 400 signalling solution and Villeurbanne for the onboard computerised systems, passenger information and signalling equipment.

In 2017, Alstom won the contract to supply an integrated metro system for Line 3 in Hanoi. This new line, which will provide Hanoi's residents with a new, safe and environmentally friendly means of transport, involves several French companies - Alstom, Colas Rail, Thales - and is financed by the French Ministry of Economy and Finance and Directorate General of the Treasury, the French Development Agency, the European Investment Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

The new line will extend over 12.5 kilometres and will consist of 12 stations. At full capacity, it is expected to carry more than 23,900 passengers per hour in each direction. Alstom is responsible for the design and manufacture of the 10 trains, the supply and integration of the Urbalis^TM 400 signalling system, the power supply and the depot equipment.