Also attending were Comrade Nguyen Van Duoc, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee and Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City; the Vice Chairmen of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City; and representatives of the leaders of departments, boards, and agencies of Ho Chi Minh City.
Complete 6 urban railway lines by 2030
At the meeting, the Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, Tran Quang Lam, stated that, according to the plan approved by the Prime Minister , the national railway network in the Ho Chi Minh City hub area comprises 7 lines with a total length of 547km. Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City's own urban railway network consists of 27 lines with a total length of 1,024km. The city aims to complete approximately 232km of urban railway by 2030, with a preliminary total investment of approximately US$19.67 billion.
During the period 2025-2030, Ho Chi Minh City will focus on investing in and completing six important lines, including: Metro Line 2 (Ben Thanh - Tham Luong section); Metro Line 2 (Ben Thanh - Thu Thiem); Thu Thiem - Long Thanh line; Binh Duong New City - Suoi Tien line; Thu Dau Mot - Ho Chi Minh City line; phase 1 of Metro Line 6 (Tan Son Nhat - Phu Huu); and Ben Thanh - Can Gio line.
According to assessments, central government funding and Ho Chi Minh City's budget only meet about 66% of the total investment needs. Therefore, the city urgently needs to develop a plan to mobilize additional resources, including exploiting land funds through the TOD (Transit-Oriented Development) model and public-private partnership (PPP) methods, especially build-transfer (BT) contracts.
Meanwhile, Dr. Truong Minh Huy Vu, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Research, proposed the establishment of a wholly state-owned urban railway corporation, under the direct control of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, to ensure the synchronized investment, management, and operation of the metro system.
Speaking at the meeting, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc requested relevant departments and units to select capable investors, conduct a comprehensive review of the railway network plan to suit the new spatial layout of Ho Chi Minh City, update it into the city's master plan, and adjust the Ho Chi Minh City planning for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050.
Simultaneously, review, organize the preparation, appraisal, approval, and adjustment of urban development plans in accordance with the TOD (Transit-Oriented Development) approach around urban railway stations and depots to exploit these resources for the city's development.
Construction on the Ben Thanh – Can Gio railway line will begin in December.
In his concluding remarks, Ho Chi Minh City Party Secretary Tran Luu Quang requested the entire political system of the city to focus on completing the six metro lines of Ho Chi Minh City and two national railway lines assigned by the Central Government. Regarding the three key lines (Metro Line 2 Ben Thanh – Tham Luong, Metro Line 2 Ben Thanh – Thu Thiem, and Thu Thiem – Long Thanh), he directed that they must be completed before 2030, specifying clear milestones, assigning specific responsibilities, and avoiding delays and overlaps. The city will hold the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ben Thanh – Can Gio line on December 19th, requiring relevant departments to simultaneously carry out multiple tasks to ensure progress and prevent delays or bottlenecks due to lack of coordination.
Simultaneously, the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board has developed two Gantt charts (progress charts): one from now until 2030 and one from now until June 2026, to fully monitor the progress of each department and agency in implementing the task of developing the railway network.
Regarding resettlement work, Comrade Tran Luu Quang emphasized the principle of prioritizing resettlement arrangements for each project, avoiding a repeat of the situation where concentrated resettlement areas are built but people do not move in due to concerns about not securing their livelihoods.
While residents are being relocated from their old homes and the resettlement area is not yet completed, the city has mechanisms in place to provide rental assistance to them while they wait to be assigned a place in the resettlement area.
In addition, he also noted that it is necessary to prepare a portion of the fund for ready-built houses in convenient, profitable locations to promptly address special cases, ensuring that people not only have a place to live but also have the means to earn a living and stabilize their lives in the long term.
He also requested the digitization of the entire resettlement process for people affected by railway projects to ensure transparency, accuracy, and convenience during implementation.
The Ben Thanh - Tham Luong line is scheduled to begin construction in early 2026.
Regarding the progress of the Metro Line 2 (Ben Thanh – Tham Luong), the Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction stated that the city plans to commence the project in January 2026. This is the first metro line in Ho Chi Minh City to apply special mechanisms and policies according to Resolution 188/2025/QH15 of the National Assembly, on piloting some special mechanisms and policies to develop the urban railway network system in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Currently, Ho Chi Minh City is coordinating with relevant ministries and agencies to review and finalize the list of key regulations and standards that will be applied to the project.
Discussing this issue, Ho Chi Minh City Party Secretary Tran Luu Quang noted that the development of technology and technical standards must be universal, absolutely not creating advantages or preferential treatment for any contractor or technology, in order to ensure transparency and competition in attracting investment.
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/tphcm-tang-toc-ve-dich-232km-metro-vao-nam-2030-post823531.html
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