Ho Chi Minh City put its first metro line, Metro Line No. 1, into a full trial run on August 29, according to the city’s Management Authority for Urban Railway (MAUR).

The trial was conducted on both elevated and underground sections of the line.

The line runs 19.7 km between Ben Thanh Station in District 1 and Suoi Tien Depot in Thu Duc city. It has 14 stations, including eleven elevated and three underground.

It allows a maximum speed of 110 km/h on elevated sections and 80 km/h on underground sections.

This is the first metro line among eight projected for the southern city. It has total investment of VND43.7 trillion ($1.82 billion).

Construction began in 2012 and over 95 per cent of work has been completed.

It is scheduled to be fully completed by the end of this year and be officially opened next year.