Ho Chi Minh City approves Vingroup to invest in Ben Thanh

The Ben Thanh - Can Gio railway project has a total investment of about 102,430 billion VND (excluding about 12,784 billion VND in site clearance costs) and has been approved in principle by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee.

The city also approved Vinspeed High-Speed Railway Investment and Development Joint Stock Company (under Vingroup Corporation) as the investor to implement the project.

According to the decision, the project aims to build a railway line connecting the center of Ho Chi Minh City to Can Gio, in line with the strategy and planning for the development of the transport system and the railway system, promoting the socio-economic development of localities in the Southern key economic region in particular and the Southeast region in general.

Ben Thanh-Can Gio Metro will run parallel to the main route Rung Sat.

Ben Thanh - Can Gio Metro has a main line length of more than 54km, built as a double track, 1435mm gauge, designed speed of 350km/h, axle load of 17 tons/axle. Estimated travel time from the first station to the last station is about more than 13 minutes.

Phase 1 of this metro line only includes the first and last stations: Ben Thanh station and Can Gio station.

Phase 2 will have 4 more stations (when needed) including Tan Thuan, Tan My, Nha Be, Binh Khanh stations along with 1 depot and 1 control center expected to be located in Can Gio commune.

The project passes through 8 communes and wards of the city, including Ben Thanh ward, Xom Chieu ward, Tan Thuan ward, Tan My ward, Nha Be commune, Binh Khanh commune, An Thoi Dong commune and Can Gio commune, with a land use demand of about 328.26 hectares (including railway protection corridor).

Preliminary total investment is about 102,430 billion VND (not including about 12,784 billion VND of site clearance costs implemented by the state budget).

The entire route is expected to have 6 trains, each train has 5 cars with a capacity of 600 passengers using fixed seats, no standing room. The expected frequency of the train is 20 minutes/trip, applied uniformly for both peak and off-peak hours of the day, starting from 6am-11pm every day of the week.

The Ben Thanh – Can Gio railway project is a new transport infrastructure construction investment project, with direct investment. The project is expected to employ about 400 workers after being put into operation.

The depot and operating area of Ben Thanh-Can Gio Metro are expected to be located in the Can Gio urban area.

The project is expected to start construction on December 19 and be completed and put into operation in 2028. Construction and equipment installation will be carried out from the fourth quarter of 2025 to the third quarter of 2027. At the end of 2027, the unit will conduct a trial operation and begin commercial operation in the first quarter of 2028.

The investor said the chosen route goes through the buffer zone of Can Gio Biosphere Reserve without entering the core zone. The Km44+00 route goes to the East, avoiding the boundary of the type I forest protection area.

The decision also requires investors to be responsible for ensuring the capacity to implement the project according to the committed schedule. In case the project has investment phases or sub-projects, it must not exceed the registered overall schedule and must comply with regulations.

The first station of Ben Thanh-Can Gio Metro will use Ben Thanh station of Metro line 1 Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien.

Regarding compensation, clearance and resettlement costs, in case the City cannot arrange compensation and site clearance costs in 2026 according to the project schedule, the investor is responsible for making an advance payment of compensation and site clearance costs.

The project has a 70-year operating period from the date of investment policy and investor approval.

Previously, the Standing Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee also agreed on the investment policy for the Ben Thanh - Can Gio railway project. At the same time, the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee assigned the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to lead the City People's Committee to direct departments and branches to carefully review the project's investment process and procedures to ensure strict compliance with the process and regulations of the law.

Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee assigned departments, branches and communes where the project passes to implement legal investment regulations.

Ha Linh

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/tp-hcm-chap-thuan-vingroup-dau-tu-metro-ben-thanh-can-gio-ar991711.html