The Mekong Delta region of Vietnam is where the Mekong River meets the East Sea. The river splits up into multiple tributaries, giving it the nickname “Nine Dragon River Delta”. While the many rivers made this fertile region “the rice basket of Vietnam”, travelling from Can Tho to Ho Chi Minh City used to involve […]
Vietnam
Hue Tramway
The Hue Tramway is a proposed tram network in Hue, Vietnam. The tramway was discussed by The Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI) and Vietnam Postal Media JSC with leaders of Thừa Thiên Huế province in August 2022. The presentation video shows four tram lines: Train Tram (Blue) City Tram – Line 1 (Red) City Tram […]
Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong Railway
The Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong Railway is a proposed upgrade of the current railway along the same route. The original line is a metre-gauge railway that was built by France to connect Kunming in China to the port in Haiphong. The new line would be a standard-gauge railway that will be connected to the standard-gauge railway […]
Hanoi construction update – 2022 edition
On my most recent visit to Hanoi I started exploring some of the new urban areas. After putting it off for years, I’ve finally published a Future Hanoi page. The “Future” pages I compile here are relatively straightforward. Most developments happen in the city centres, so I can knock out a list that covers the […]
Future Hanoi
Hanoi is the political and cultural centre of Vietnam, famous for its ancient city quarter. The capital city of Vietnam is over 1000 years old, making it the oldest capital city in Southeast Asia. It’s also a city of over 8 million people – the second largest city in Vietnam – and it’s growing faster […]
Future Haiphong
Haiphong is a seaport city in Northeast Vietnam, approximately 100 km east of Hanoi. It is the third-largest city in Vietnam and home to the largest post, which serves Hanoi and the Red River Delta region. Haiphong is one of five cities in Vietnam that is a separate municipality and not in any of the […]
Nha Trang construction update – 2022 edition
Nha Trang is usually one of the most popular beach resort cities in Vietnam. The city was going through a massive construction boom up until 2019, and then 2020 happened. Vietnam closed its international borders almost completely in March 2020, and they were able to stop the virus from spreading for most of the year. […]
Ho Chi Minh City Metro 2022 construction update
Ho Chi Minh City is in the midst of building its first metro line, and planning for at least another 10 lines. Every year I do a “State of the Metro” report to follow the construction progress and other lines under consideration (here are the 2020 and 2021 reports). Another year has gone by and […]
Hanoi Metro 2022 construction update
This is the second Hanoi Metro Report at Future Southeast Asia (the first one being in 2020). These construction updates are an annual snapshot of construction progress and notable news over the last year. I missed the 2021 update due to the pandemic, so I was happy to be able to return to Hanoi and […]
Hanoi Line 2A review – riding the first metro railway in Vietnam
Hanoi opened metro Line 2A on November 6th 2021, making it the first urban rail transit line in Vietnam. I have been watching this line slowly (very slowly) get built while I have been based in Vietnam. I visited Hanoi in 2020 thinking that my metro report would include a review of the new line, […]
