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 […]
ho chi minh city
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 […]
Proposed railways of the Central Highlands in Vietnam
The Central Highlands Region is comprised of five provinces in the mountainous area of south-central Vietnam. [Image via Wikipedia.] There are no railways in this region (apart from a short tourist line in Da Lat), but there are plans for railways in the future. Proposed Routes In The Central Highlands Region The main railway proposal […]
Ho Chi Minh City Metro 2021 construction update
Ho Chi Minh City is currently constructing its first metro line. Following on from the 2020 construction update, here is the Ho Chi Minh City Metro 2021 construction update. Line 1 Line 1 has been making slow progress, with the latest revised opening date set for the end of 2022. It has been another tumultuous […]
Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City by rail on the Southern Economic Corridor Railway
The Southern Economic Corridor is a proposed transport route that would connect the port of Dawei in Myanmar to ports in Vietnam, via Thailand and Cambodia. This is an alternative route to the East-East Economic Corridor. [Map via anz.com.] The Southern Economic Corridor route goes from Dawei to Bangkok and then on to Aranyaprathet on […]
Ho Chi Minh City construction update – 2021 edition
Here is the third annual Ho Chi Minh City construction update (following on from the 2019 and 2020 construction updates). Continuing from last year, COVID-19 continues to cast a shadow over the construction sector. In fact this year has been worse, as Vietnam was one of the best performing countries in handling the virus in […]
Ben Thanh Station – A 3-line metro interchange that will transform Ho Chi Minh City
Ben Thanh Station is the future central station of the Ho Chi Minh City Metro. The station will be an interchange for three lines, and it will include a remodeled pedestrian area and an underground shopping plaza. The underground station is in front of the historic Ben Thanh Market, under what was Quach Thi Trang […]
Ho Chi Minh City construction update – 2020 edition
This is the second annual Ho Chi Minh City construction update (here is the 2019 construction update), and what a difference a year makes. At the end of 2019 Vietnam had recorded over 7% GDP annual growth, capping off a record decade of growth. And then COVID-19 struck. With international travel all but closed down, […]
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 […]
