After some delay and thus several years later than originally planned, the metro in Vietnam’s largest metropolitan region Ho Chi Minh City opened for service today, 22 December 2024, at 10 am.
The first line connects Ben Thanh with Suoi Tien over a length of 19.7 kilometres. It runs mainly as an elevated railway and is electrified with 750V= overhead lines. 2.6 km of the line and 3 of the 14 stations are underground.
Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, has a population of approximately 8 million and rising, while the metropolis of Hanoi in the north of the country, where the country’s first metro system was opened 3 years ago, is home to just under 4 million people.
The Japanese government has covered 88% of the funding for the project. Subsequently, Hitachi has delivered the project’s electrical and mechanical systems, including signalling, telecommunications, platform screen doors, an automated fare collection system, track infrastructure, and depot facilities on a 21-hectare site in Long Binh. Japanese contractors collaborated with Vietnamese companies to complete the construction of the line. In addition, Hitachi is the supplier of the trains which were already ordered back in 2013. There are 17 trains in the fleet, each with three sections and a total capacity of 930 passengers (147 seated and 783 standing).
During the initial phase, nine trains operate daily from 5 am to 10 pm, providing some 200 trips per day. Trains will run every 8-12 minutes, and the journey from Suoi Tien Station in Thu Duc City to Ben Thanh Station in District 1 takes approximately 30 minutes.
Another metro line, Line 2 from Ga Thu Thiem via Ben Thanh to BX An Suong, is currently under construction. In the medium term, the construction of a total of 6 metro lines, 2 light rail lines and 2 monorail lines is planned.
A network scheme is available here:
https://www.urbanrail.net/as/hcmc/ho-chi-minh-city.htm
