The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has just issued a decision authorizing the Chairman of the City People's Committee to perform a number of tasks and powers according to Resolution No. 188 of the National Assembly on piloting specific mechanisms and policies for the development of the urban railway system in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
According to Resolution 188, from now until 2035, the city will focus on investing in 7 metro lines with a total length of 355 km.
The routes include: Metro Line 1 extension (Ben Thanh - An Ha) over 20 km long; Metro Line 2 (Thu Thiem - Binh My Depot) over 62.2 km long; Metro Line 3 (An Ha - Hiep Binh Phuoc Depot) over 45.8 km long; Metro Line 4 (Dong Thanh - Hiep Phuoc Urban Area) over 47.3 km long; Metro Line 5 (Hung Long University Urban Area - Vinhomes Grand Park) over 53.9 km long; Metro Line 6 (inner belt) over 53.8 km long; Metro Line 7 (Tan Kien Station - Long Binh Depot) over 51.2 km long.
After 2035, the city will continue to build 3 more 155 km metro lines, bringing the total length of the network to 510 km.
The decision authorizes the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to establish, appraise, decide on investment and adjust urban railway projects, as well as projects according to the urban development model associated with public transport TOD (Transit-Oriented Development) with procedures similar to group A projects managed by the locality.
The Chairman of the City People's Committee also has the right to divide projects into component projects and sub-projects without having to apply current regulations on construction.
Notably, metro projects will have their implementation time extended without requiring adjustment procedures if the total investment is not increased.
Constructions under the project, such as terminals, intersections or bridges, do not have to organize architectural design competitions. At the same time, the selection of consulting, construction, EPC or project investors can be carried out in the form of bidding designation but still comply with the law on bidding.
In addition, compensation, support and resettlement work will be separated into independent projects, based on the route plan or TOD plan approved by the competent authority.
The Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee also decided to apply standards and regulations for metro lines after agreeing with the Ministry of Construction without having to carry out approval procedures according to current regulations.
The decision also allows the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to organize the appraisal and approval of environmental impact assessment reports, grant environmental licenses before the project is put into trial operation, or register the environment if the project is not a licensor.
The authorization period will last until December 31, 2026 or until there is a document of adjustment from the competent authority.
Metro Line 2 (Ben Thanh - Tham Luong) will start construction on January 15, 2026 - the first metro line in Ho Chi Minh City to apply special mechanisms according to Resolution 188.
The Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has approved the implementation of mechanisms under Resolution 188 for the next activities of the project without having to re-apply the investment approval procedures. The operating costs of the appraisal experts will be included in the total investment of the project.
