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. […]
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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
Line 2A of the Hanoi Metro opened 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 […]
Future Thua Thien Hue, Vietnam – Hue and province construction, transport, and infrastructure projects
Thua Thien Hue is a province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. The capital of Hue is one of the most historic cities in Vietnam, with the Hue Citadel being the seat of the former imperial capital of Vietnam. Outside of the historic area, Hue is a growing provincial capital, with a new […]
Ho Chi Minh City construction update – 2022 edition
This is the 4th annual Ho Chi Minh City construction update at Future Southeast Asia. (If you are new to the site, here are the updates for 2019, 2020, and 2021.) This update features some of the most prominent projects that are under construction, and projects that have had noteable news updates over the past […]
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 […]
Da Nang construction update – 2022 edition
After nearly two years since the international borders closed, Vietnam reopened to the world in March 2022. As soon as I was able to return I went to Da Nang. My last construction report for Da Nang was in the first year of the lockout in November 2020. Few would have predicted that the country […]
Binh Thuan construction update – 2022 edition
Bình Thuan Province in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam is best known for the beach resorts of Phan Thiet and Mui Ne. It doesn’t have the level of tourism of Nha Trang and Da Nang (not having an airport is a major factor), but it has its own niche of visitors. In the […]
Tuy Phong Station: How the high-speed railway in Vietnam could transform this fishing port
The proposed high-speed railway in Vietnam includes a stop in the coastal district of Tuy Phong. Could this fishing port become the next boom town? Edit: A different alignment has been chosen over the original alignment that was originally published. The station in this area is now called Phan Ri, though it is still in […]










