The Ben Thanh - Thu Thiem railway line runs from the central core of Ho Chi Minh City, crosses the Saigon River, and runs along Mai Chi Tho road to near the An Phu intersection - Photo: CHAU TUAN
Once the metro lines are completed and interconnected, if passenger traffic is sufficient, there could be direct trains running from Tan Son Nhat Airport to Long Thanh Airport. General Secretary To Lam assigned Ho Chi Minh City a target travel time of 30 minutes. I think if the trains run continuously without stopping at any stations, this requirement could still be met for a distance of about 60km.
Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Tran Luu Quang
At a meeting with voters on March 10, Ho Chi Minh City Party Secretary Tran Luu Quang said that General Secretary To Lam had assigned the city the task of solving the problem of connecting Tan Son Nhat and Long Thanh airports .
Several metro lines connecting airports will begin construction in 2026.
According to Mr. Quang, during this term, the city will simultaneously implement many large-scale urban railway lines with a rapid approach, with a plan to complete 6 lines by the end of the term. Two lines will pass through the Tan Son Nhat airport area , of which metro line 2, the Ben Thanh - Tham Luong section, has already commenced construction in January 2026. At the same time this year, Ho Chi Minh City will also begin construction of metro line 6, running from the Tan Son Nhat airport area through Pham Van Dong road to Phu Huu.
In fact, since the implementation of Resolution 188 and the facilitation of other central government mechanisms, Ho Chi Minh City has proactively researched various options for connecting the metro system with Tan Son Nhat and Long Thanh airports.
In particular, the city is prioritizing the early implementation of a metro line connecting the two airports via Metro Line 2 (Ben Thanh - Tham Luong section and Ben Thanh - Thu Thiem section ) and the Thu Thiem - Long Thanh railway line.
Dai Quang Minh Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Company (a member enterprise of Truong Hai Group) is conducting research to prepare a feasibility study report for Metro Line 2, the Ben Thanh - Thu Thiem section, and the Thu Thiem - Long Thanh railway line.
Previously, Pacific Construction Group had submitted a proposal to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to invest in phase 1 of metro line 6, from Ba Queo station (connecting to metro line 2), passing through Tan Son Nhat airport to Phu Huu (connecting with the Thu Thiem - Long Thanh railway).
The project is proposed to be implemented under the EPCF (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) general contractor model (with advance payment and deferred payment at low or no interest). The company commits to commencing construction this year upon approval.
Source: Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee - Graphics: N.KH.
Mobilizing combined strength
According to the plan, there is only about a month left until the expected commencement of construction on the Ben Thanh - Thu Thiem metro line. Ho Chi Minh City is making maximum use of special policy mechanisms within its authority, including applying a mechanism for selecting investors in special cases to ensure the implementation progress.
Implementing this project as an urgent project under Resolution 188 and related regulations will help shorten the implementation procedures by 1-2 years compared to before.
Last week, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issued a plan for the implementation of the Metro Line 2 project, specifically the Ben Thanh - Thu Thiem section. The plan comprises eight main task groups with over 70 important procedures and tasks, clearly assigning responsibilities and specific timelines to relevant departments, localities, and Dai Quang Minh Company to ensure the highest level of responsibility in its implementation.
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Weather forecast for July 2nd: Tropical depression in the East Sea likely to strengthen into a typhoon.According to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, at 1:00 AM on July 2nd, the center of the tropical depression was located at approximately 16.8 degrees North latitude and 115.2 degrees East longitude, in the northern part of the South China Sea, about 400 km east of the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands. The strongest winds near the center of the tropical depression were at level 7, gusting to level 9; moving northwest at a speed of about 25 km/hour. According to the schedule, the city requires departments to complete procedures so that the City People's Council can approve the resolution on the list of land funds for payment under BT (build-transfer) contracts in April 2026. On April 18th, the investment project is expected to be approved and the investor accepted through a special selection method. On April 19th, localities will hand over the land for the commencement of construction.
In addition to the aforementioned connection, metro lines in other directions to Long Thanh Airport are also showing positive signs. Specifically, Dong Nai province is urgently implementing procedures to extend Metro Line 1 (Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien) to the province's new administrative center and Long Thanh Airport, aiming for completion by 2030.
Emergency projects must be done immediately.
Dr. Pham Viet Thuan, Director of the Institute of Resource and Environmental Economics in Ho Chi Minh City, believes that implementing projects connecting Long Thanh Airport as emergency projects is something that needs to be done immediately. This is also a way to avoid wasting resources and time, especially as Long Thanh Airport is about to be put into operation.
"Emergency projects are those that must be implemented immediately. While the legal framework for emergency projects already exists, in my opinion, the most important factor remains the human element. Instead of taking three months for appraisal, it should be reduced to 10-15 days; instead of one month, it should be done in one week, or even one day. This is a change in approach and operation. Officials must have a firm grasp of procedures, be willing to act, take responsibility, be decisive, and be confident in order to maximize the effectiveness of the emergency mechanism," Mr. Thuan said.
However, Mr. Thuan also noted that metro and railway projects are large-scale and technically complex. Therefore, even when implemented as emergency projects, project documents must be meticulously prepared, of high quality, and anticipate risks during construction, operation, and the contract completion phase. The more thorough the preparation phase, the better, so that after approval, the implementation process will proceed smoothly.
"I understand that Ho Chi Minh City has invited representatives from seven ministries and agencies to participate in the evaluation committee for the metro project's bidding packages. I believe this proposal is very necessary and I suggest that the ministries and agencies send highly qualified officials with expertise and project management experience to participate in the evaluation and supervision throughout the implementation process. The role of these officials is crucial to provide timely feedback and guidance to the investor during the initial implementation phase, preventing errors from being discovered later and causing serious consequences," Mr. Thuan said.
According to Mr. Thuan, when a large airport like Long Thanh is completed, a single metro line will not be able to meet all transportation needs. Therefore, not only the metro but also most of the roads connecting to Long Thanh currently are considered emergency projects.
Multiple projects need to be implemented simultaneously, including renovating, expanding, and addressing bottlenecks on road networks to increase connectivity from multiple directions.
Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway section passing through Dong Nai. Photo: A Loc
Building a metro system takes 4-5 years, and in the short term, it depends on road connections.
According to transportation experts, even the fastest metro line takes 4-5 years to complete from construction to operation. The set targets include several metro lines connecting airports, which are expected to be completed by 2030, while Long Thanh Airport (Dong Nai province) is scheduled to begin operations in June 2026. Therefore, while waiting for the metro lines, the immediate priority is to accelerate road connections.
Currently, many expressways, ring roads, and bridges are being rapidly developed and constructed to ensure their early completion and connection to Long Thanh Airport. Projects such as Ring Road 3, the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway, and the Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway are expected to be completed by mid-2026.
Meanwhile, construction is accelerating on the Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway and the project to expand the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway to 8-10 lanes.
According to the Vietnam Expressway Investment and Development Corporation (VEC), the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh Expressway expansion project was implemented under an emergency order and commenced construction on August 19, 2025. This project had to be completed in a short time to meet the schedule for connecting to Long Thanh Airport.
To date, the project has been under construction for over 6 months (approximately 1/3 of the contract time) with over 37% of the work completed. The investor and contractor are closely monitoring the progress to essentially complete the project by December 2026, with the main bridge of Long Thanh Bridge to be joined in December 2026 and the remaining items completed by March 2027.
Recently, Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai have joined forces to accelerate the construction of new connecting routes - including the groundbreaking ceremony for the Phu My 2 Bridge, Cat Lai Bridge, and Long Hung Bridge (Dong Nai 2).
In addition, Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, and Tay Ninh also have plans to start construction of the 160km-long Ring Road 4 from the middle of this year. This group of projects aims to be completed in the 2028-2029 period.
Proposal to invest in Metro Line 2 Ben Thanh - Thu Thiem under the BT (Build-Transfer) model.
Vietnam encourages US businesses to expand investment in high technology.On the morning of June 26th, at the Government Headquarters, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung received Mr. Jeff Place, Supply Chain Director of Coherent Group (USA). During the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister affirmed that Vietnam encourages US businesses to expand investment, especially in high-tech, innovation, and semiconductor industries. The Metro Line 2 project, connecting Ben Thanh and Thu Thiem, is 6.2km long, starting at Ben Thanh station, running underground along Ham Nghi street, crossing the Saigon River to the Thu Thiem urban area, and continuing along Mai Chi Tho street to Thu Thiem station.
The project was assigned by Ho Chi Minh City to Dai Quang Minh Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Company to conduct research and prepare a feasibility study report. The investor proposed implementing the project under a public-private partnership (PPP) model, specifically a BT (build-transfer) contract.
Besides the Metro Line 2 section from Ben Thanh to Thu Thiem, many domestic and foreign businesses are currently investing in and proposing to implement metro and railway projects in Ho Chi Minh City through PPP or direct investment.
Specifically, the Ben Thanh - Can Gio railway line, with a speed of 350km/h, was officially launched by VinSpeed High-Speed Railway Investment and Development Joint Stock Company on December 19, 2025, with the goal of completion in the fourth quarter of 2028.
For the Metro Line 3 project (Hiep Binh Phuoc - An Ha), Masterise Group Joint Stock Company is also studying investment under the PPP model. The project has a line length of 45.8km with an estimated capital of approximately 133,000 billion VND.
For Metro Line 4 (Dong Thanh - Hoc Mon), Sovico Group Joint Stock Company is also studying and proposing investment options in the form of PPP or direct investment as stipulated by the Investment Law. The line is over 47km long with an estimated capital of 157,405 billion VND.
The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has sent a letter requesting seven ministries and agencies to consider sending representatives to participate in the appraisal team during the contractor selection process for packages in the investment preparation phase of the city's urban railway (metro) network.
This aims to support investors in organizing a rigorous, open, and transparent contractor selection process, ensuring efficiency and selecting contractors with the necessary capabilities and experience to carry out the project.
The agencies proposed to participate in the evaluation team include the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Government Inspectorate, and the State Audit Office.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cap-toc-lam-metro-ket-noi-san-bay-long-thanh-20260316080702469.htm
