Opening the new stage
As the first urban railway line in Ho Chi Minh City, Metro Line 1 (Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien) is nearly 20km long, connecting the city center with the eastern gateway. After being put into operation from December 2024, the number of passengers using the line increased sharply, averaging nearly 70,000 passengers/day. To date, the line has served more than 26 million passengers, contributing to a significant change in people's travel habits.
From the platform of Metro Line 1, Ho Chi Minh City is entering a stage of strong development of the urban railway network. A series of metro lines have been started or are completing procedures to start construction, aiming to be completed simultaneously by 2030.
The Ben Thanh - Can Gio Metro line was started on December 19, 2025 in the form of a BOO contract (build - own - operate). The total investment is more than 102,43 billion VND mobilized by investors, excluding nearly 13,000 billion VND of site clearance costs from the budget. The line is designed with a maximum speed of up to 350km/h, helping to shorten travel time from the center of Ho Chi Minh City to Can Gio to about 13 minutes when completed in 2028.
Metro line No. 2 (Ben Thanh - Tham Luong section) started construction on January 15, 2026 with a total investment of more than 55,000 billion VND from the budget. The line is nearly 11.3km long, of which the majority is underground (more than 9km), the rest is elevated section and access road to the depot. The line has 10 underground stations, 1 elevated station and 1 depot.
Ho Chi Minh City aims to complete the Ben Thanh - Tham Luong route by 2030. In the first phase of operation, the route uses a 3-carriage train, with a maximum speed of 80-110 km/h, capable of serving more than 14,400 passengers/hour/direction during peak hours.
After the Ben Thanh - Tham Luong line, Ho Chi Minh City is urgently completing procedures to start construction of Metro Line No. 2 (Ben Thanh - Thu Thiem section) before April 30, 2026. The line is about 5.58 km long, including 6 underground stations, prepared by Dai Quang Minh Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Company with a feasibility study report in the form of PPP, BT contract (build - transfer). The line starts from Ben Thanh station, follows Ham Nghi road, crosses the Saigon River to Thu Thiem and ends here, with a preliminary total investment of about 46.300 billion VND.
The Thu Thiem - Long Thanh urban railway line is also being accelerated in investment preparation, striving to start construction before June 30, 2026. The line is about 42 km long, designed with double tracks of 1,435 mm gauge, maximum speed of 120 km/h, including 20 stations (16 elevated stations, 4 underground stations), with a total investment of about 84,753 billion VND. The project has been assigned to Dai Quang Minh to study and prepare a feasibility study according to the BT contract.
By 2030, when Metro Line No. 2 (Ben Thanh - Tham Luong and Ben Thanh - Thu Thiem) and Thu Thiem - Long Thanh lines are completed, a direct connection axis between Tan Son Nhat airport - Ho Chi Minh City center - Long Thanh airport will be formed. Passengers can move from Tan Son Nhat airport to Ba Queo station, take Metro Line No. 2 to Ben Thanh station, then to Thu Thiem station to continue their journey to Long Thanh airport.
Private sector accompanies
A noteworthy point in the new development phase is the increasing participation of the private sector. Among the above-mentioned metro lines, up to 3 lines are invested with private capital, contributing to reducing the burden on the budget.
In addition, the consortium Becamex IDC Group and Truong Hai Group Joint Stock Company (Thaco) are proposing to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to study investing in two urban railway lines connecting the Binh Duong area in the form of PPP.
The Binh Duong - Suoi Tien new city Metro line is about 32.43km long, with a total investment of about 64.370 billion VND, of which site clearance costs are more than 8,000 billion VND.
The Thu Dau Mot - Ho Chi Minh City Metro line is about 24.2km long, connecting from station S5 of line No. 1 (Binh Duong ward) to Hiep Binh station of Metro No. 3 (Hiep Binh Phuoc - An Ha), with a total investment of about 59. 968 billion VND. Land clearance costs alone account for more than 15,600 billion VND.
According to the proposed roadmap, legal procedures will be completed in 2026, meeting the conditions for starting construction of these 2 metro lines in the first quarter of 2027 and putting them into operation in 2030.
In addition, many large enterprises also expressed interest in investing in urban railways in Ho Chi Minh City in the form of PPP or direct investment. Becamex Corporation is researching the Chon Thanh - Bau Bang - Cai Mep railway line, belonging to the Ho Chi Minh City - Loc Ninh and Bien Hoa - Vung Tau routes.
Sovico Group is allowed to survey Metro Line No. 4 (Dong Thanh - Hiep Phuoc section), while Masterise Group is studying and preparing a feasibility study for Metro Line No. 3 (An Ha - Hiep Binh Phuoc section).
Ho Chi Minh City is also coordinating with Dong Nai province to extend the Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien Metro line to Long Thanh airport with a length of more than 44km. The preliminary total investment is more than 60,000 billion VND, expected to be mainly implemented in PPP form, BT contract and completed in 2029.
To get rid of traffic jams, there must be a metro
According to Mr. Phan Cong Bang - Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board, from now to 2030, the city is expected to complete nearly 200km of urban railway, meeting 20-30% of travel demand.
In the period 2030 - 2035, Ho Chi Minh City will continue to invest in 8 more routes with a total length of 275km, increasing the total network scale to 462km, meeting 35 - 50% of travel needs. In the next 10 years, the metro system will be expanded by 5 more routes, 239km long, increasing the total length to about 700km, covering the entire area and inter-regional connectivity, meeting 50 - 60% of travel needs.
Mr. Tran Quang Lam - Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction - emphasized that with a population of about 14 million people, Ho Chi Minh City is forced to develop a large-volume transportation system to fundamentally solve the congestion situation. "We cannot solve traffic congestion, nor can we build a sustainable megacity without the metro system" - Mr. Lam said.
According to the leader of the Department of Construction, the city has prepared a strong institutional framework to promote metro development. Resolution 188 on urban railways (applied to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi) along with Resolution 260 (amending and supplementing Resolution 98) allows the application of special mechanisms, streamlining investment procedures, contractor appointment and deploying the TOD model, thereby accelerating the progress of projects.
