On July 22, the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board (MAUR) said that 18 wards with the Thu Dau Mot - Ho Chi Minh City Metro line project passing through are organizing to collect people's opinions on the route direction and location of the project's works.
Before the merger, the Thu Dau Mot - Ho Chi Minh City Metro line was only planned within the old Binh Duong province with a length of about 23.3km, starting from the S5 station area in Phu My ward (old Thu Dau Mot City) and ending in Vinh Phu ward (old Thuan An City).
After the merger, Ho Chi Minh City decided to extend the route from Thu Dau Mot to deep into the city center.
According to the new plan, the Thu Dau Mot - Ho Chi Minh City Metro line will have its starting point at station S5, connecting to the Binh Duong New City - Suoi Tien Metro line in Binh Duong ward; the ending point at station C23, connecting to Tao Dan station (Ben Thanh ward) of Metro line No. 2 (Ben Thanh - Tham Luong).
The total length of the entire route is about 35.1km, passing through 18 wards including: Binh Duong, Phu Loi, Thu Dau Mot, Thuan An, Thuan Giao, Lai Thieu, Binh Hoa, Tam Binh, Hiep Binh, Binh Loi Trung, Binh Quoi, Binh Thanh, Gia Dinh, Thanh My Tay, Saigon, Xuan Hoa, Ben Thanh and Ban Co.
A noteworthy point in this plan is that the route direction has been significantly adjusted compared to the previous plan.
Specifically, from station C10 (near Ong Bo bridge) on National Highway 13, the route will turn to run parallel to Ngo Chi Quoc street, passing through the Go Dua intersection area (Belt Road 2) before reaching Hiep Binh Phuoc depot. After that, the route passes through station C16 near the Can Nhon Hoa area and station C17 is arranged near Binh Trieu station near Kha Van Can street, instead of clinging along National Highway 13 as previously planned.
Along with adjusting the route direction, the Hiep Binh depot is also proposed to be expanded to about 33ha, extending to Tam Binh ward.
According to the research plan, the route is invested with a double standard gauge of 1,435mm, using an electrification system.
The design speed reaches 110km/h for the elevated section and 90km/h for the underground section.
The entire route has 24 stations, including 13 underground stations and 11 elevated stations.
Ho Chi Minh City sets a target to start the Thu Dau Mot - Ho Chi Minh City Metro project by the end of 2026 and complete it by 2030.
According to Resolution 09 of the Politburo, Ho Chi Minh City will put into operation about 200km of metro by 2030 and complete the urban railway network by 2045.
Currently, Ho Chi Minh City has only put into operation nearly 20km of Metro Line No. 1 (Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien), which means the city needs to complete about 180km of metro in the next nearly 5 years to achieve the set target.
Key projects to be completed include Metro Line No. 2 (Ben Thanh - Tham Luong) more than 11km long, Metro Line Ben Thanh - Can Gio about 54km long and Ben Thanh - Thu Thiem section about 6km long. These projects have been started or grounded.
From now until the end of 2026, in addition to the Thu Dau Mot - Ho Chi Minh City Metro line, the city is expected to start construction of 3 other Metro lines, including: Thu Thiem - Long Thanh line, about 48km long, Binh Duong New City - Suoi Tien Metro line, more than 31km long, and Metro Line No. 6 phase 1 (Tan Son Nhat - Phu Huu airport), about 22km long.
