Ho Chi Minh City prioritizes domestic contractors to build metro line 2

On the afternoon of November 4, the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board responded to the press in writing, providing information on the investment orientation for the metro line 2 project.

Accordingly, the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee and People's Committee agreed to stop using ODA capital and switch to using the entire city budget to implement the project.

Prioritize domestic contractors to build metro line 2, apply special mechanisms

Along with the change in capital sources, the Ho Chi Minh City Metro Development Steering Committee and the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee applied a series of special mechanisms and policies to the metro line 2 project, especially the provisions of Resolution 188 of the National Assembly , the amended Bidding Law and the Railway Law.

Accordingly, the priority contractors for the project implementation are domestic contractors with sufficient capacity and experience. The implementation will be linked to the goal of localization, while at the same time receiving technology from foreign contractors to improve the capacity of the domestic urban railway industry.

In October 2025, the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board and consulting units organized an international conference to provide information and consult on the overall contractor selection strategy for the EPC package.

On that basis, the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board reported to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to propose applying the EPC model (the contractor performs everything from technical design, material and equipment supply to construction and testing, handover - PV).

TP. Hồ Chí Minh ưu tiên nhà thầu trong nước làm metro số 2 - Ảnh 1. — *Planned route of metro line 2 (Photo: Maur)*

European technology, GoA4 automated train

During the FEED design implementation process, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee approved the technology plan for metro line 2 according to the European standard system, including the train with the highest level of automation - GoA4 (the highest level of automation for subways, in which the train operates completely automatically, without a driver on board - PV) in line with current world trends.

In the urban railway network of Ho Chi Minh City, metro line 2 is the longest radial line, with a total length of 48 km. Currently, the project is divided into 3 phases, of which: phase 1 (Ben Thanh - Tham Luong) is more than 11 km long, with 9.2 km underground, the rest is elevated.

TP. Hồ Chí Minh ưu tiên nhà thầu trong nước làm metro số 2 - Ảnh 2. — *Perspective of metro line 2 in Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: Maur)*

When completed, the route will connect the city center with the northwest, contributing to reducing traffic pressure on main roads such as Cach Mang Thang Tam, Truong Chinh, Cong Hoa...

Ho Chi Minh City Metro Line 2 with a total investment of nearly VND47,890 billion was approved in 2010, but due to many long-standing problems, the project's progress has been continuously delayed and is currently scheduled to be completed in 2030. It is expected that Metro Line 2 (Ben Thanh - Tham Luong) will start construction in mid-January 2026.

Regarding the selection of investors for metro lines 3 and 4, the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board said that many investors have expressed interest and desire to participate. The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has assigned the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance to preside over and coordinate with relevant departments and branches to guide investors in carrying out the next procedures.

Source: Youth

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