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 […]
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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, […]
Proposed speeds of the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City Express Railway
Should the future Vietnam North-South Express Railway be a high-speed or semi-high-speed railway? Vietnam is planning to commence construction of the North-South express railway in 2028-2029. Even with years of feasibility studies and consultancy reports, no decision has been made on how fast the new railway should be. The fastest proposal has called for a […]
Comparison of cost and construction times of first metro lines in Asia
The first metro lines of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are under construction, and like most first lines of a metro system, they are delayed and over budget. Line 2A of the Hanoi Metro was originally planned to be operational by 2016, while the first metro line in Ho Chi Minh City had an […]
Hanoi – Chiang Mai Railway
The Hanoi – Chiang Mai Railway is an unofficially proposed railway that would connect Hanoi (Vietnam) to Chiang Mai (Thailand), via Luang Prabang (Laos). There are a number of long-term planned railways for Laos, but a Hanoi to Chiang Mai railway is not one under consideration. The railway proposal is via a map from China, […]
North–South express railway Vietnam
The Vietnam North–South express railway is a proposed high speed railway that would replace the current North–South railway between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The new railway would be a double-track standard gauge (1,435 mm) electric railway with a track length of 1,570 km. Train speeds have been proposed from anywhere between 150 km/h […]
Hanoi Metro 2020 construction update
Hanoi has two metro lines under construction, and when completed they will be the first urban transit railway in Vietnam. Both lines were due to be open by now, but there have been years of delays that have kept the lines from opening. It’s been a frustrating wait for Hanoians (and regular visitors like myself) […]
