On June 22, Hanoi simultaneously broke ground on five new metro lines, with a total investment of VND 1.3 quadrillion (about US$50 billion). According to Vu Dai Thang, Chairman of Hanoi’s People's Committee, this is the largest-ever metro development programme for the city, marking a transition from constructing individual metro lines to building an integrated, citywide network.
The move comes as Ho Chi Minh City also aims to complete 200 kilometres of metro lines by 2030. While the first metro line in both cities took more than a decade to complete, the simultaneous launch of multiple projects signals a shift from years of slow metro development to an unprecedented construction push.
The extended metro network by 2030
Hanoi currently has two metro lines in operation: the Cat Linh–Ha Dong Line and the elevated section of the Nhon–Hanoi Railway Station Line. Under the capital's 100-year master plan, the city aims to develop an 18-line urban railway network spanning approximately 979 kilometres.
The plan targets completing around 500 kilometres of metro lines by 2035, with the remaining network to be built between 2035 and 2045.
On June 22, 2026, Hanoi simultaneously broke ground on five new metro lines with a combined length of more than 300 kilometres. The projects are expected to be substantially completed by 2030.
Once completed, the five lines will connect key transport hubs and emerging urban centres, including Noi Bai International Airport, Hanoi Railway Station, the Ngoc Hoi transport hub, Hoa Lac, Thu Lam, Co Loa and Ocean Park.
Meanwhile, in May 2026, through Resolution No. 09-NQ/TW, the Politburo directed Ho Chi Minh City to complete around 200 kilometres of metro lines by 2030 and finish its urban rail network by 2045.
That means the city must build more than 180 additional kilometres of metro within the next 4 years, while the 20-kilometre Metro Line 1 (Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien) took almost two decades to complete and enter operation.
Ho Chi Minh City has already broken ground on several new projects, including the 11-kilometre Ben Thanh–Tham Luong section of Metro Line 2, the approximately 54-kilometre Ben Thanh–Can Gio line, and the six-kilometre Ben Thanh–Thu Thiem section of Metro Line 2.
The city also plans to begin construction on four more rail projects this year: the roughly 48-kilometre Thu Thiem–Long Thanh railway; the Binh Duong New City–Suoi Tien line; Phase 1 of Metro Line 6, connecting Tan Son Nhat International Airport and Phu Huu over 22 kilometres; and the Thu Dau Mot–Ho Chi Minh City railway.
Why do Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City accelerate expanding metro networks?
Beyond the immediate benefits of easing traffic congestion and improving air quality, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are accelerating metro development in response to broader strategic pressures.
In Hanoi, the capital's 100-year master plan envisions a comprehensive metro network that is expected to reshape population distribution and the city's property market. To ensure these long-term planning goals are realised before the next development cycle, the city is under pressure to accelerate construction.
For Ho Chi Minh City, the metro expansion is more than a transport project—it is a real test of whether recent institutional reforms can deliver faster infrastructure development.
The city has been granted two landmark policy frameworks: Resolution 98, which gives it greater autonomy over planning, land use and transit-oriented development (TOD), and Resolution 188, which introduces special mechanisms for financing, technology, procurement and strategic investors for urban rail projects. Together, the two resolutions are intended to address the planning and regulatory bottlenecks that contributed to Metro Line 1 taking nearly two decades to complete.
Resolution 188 also gives Ho Chi Minh City unprecedented flexibility in mobilising capital and delivering metro projects, but those advantages depend on timely implementation. Whether the city can translate these new powers into completed metro lines by 2030 will determine its ability to carry the projects in favour of the reform.
Metro expansion is also critical to supporting broader economic development. In Ho Chi Minh City, the rail network needs to keep pace with the opening of Long Thanh International Airport to maximise regional connectivity. Both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City see metro systems as the backbone of a transition from monocentric urban growth to multi-centre metropolitan regions capable of sustaining future investment.
“Vietnam needs to move beyond a single-centre urban model and develop well-connected, multi-centre cities. Otherwise, investors may look elsewhere, and economic growth could suffer. If Vietnam wants to prosper, it cannot afford such a long time,” said Marc Townsend, Senior Advisor at Arcadia Consulting Vietnam, to Nhip Cau Dau Tu.
The unprecedented challenge
Experts have described the goal of completing 200–300 kilometres of metro lines within the next four years as “an unprecedented challenge.”
For Ho Chi Minh City, the scale of the challenge remains immense. According to economist Dr Tran Du Lich, delivering 355 kilometres of metro lines within the next decade would require the city to complete around 35 kilometres of urban railway every year—a pace that would be difficult even for countries with far more experience in metro construction.
Analysts stressed that the focus should not be on questioning the target, but on identifying the obstacles and finding solutions. While Resolution 188 provides a new institutional framework, the city must also overhaul its implementation model, project management and administrative approach. "If we continue with the old procedures, Ho Chi Minh City is unlikely to achieve its goal of building 355 kilometres of urban rail within 10 years," said Nguyen Trong Hoai , Professor and former Vice President of the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City.
In Hanoi, meanwhile, experts have described the simultaneous construction of five metro lines as a breakthrough, marking a shift from building isolated rail projects to developing an integrated urban transport network.
Hanoi’s metro lines face challenges beyond construction delays: interoperability. Existing and planned metro lines are being built using different technical standards and technologies. The Cat Linh–Ha Dong line uses Chinese technology, the Nhon–Hanoi Railway Station line follows European standards, while the Nam Thang Long–Tran Hung Dao line is expected to adopt Japanese technology. Differences in rolling stock, signalling systems, control technologies and maintenance standards make seamless integration more difficult.
The result is that even physically adjacent lines are not always well connected. For example, Cat Linh Station and Station S10 on the Nhon–Hanoi Railway Station line are only a few hundred metres apart, yet passengers must walk through surrounding streets to transfer because no direct interchange has been built.
As a result, Hanoi’s challenge is not only delivering hundreds of kilometres of new metro lines on schedule, but also whether the city can integrate those lines into a unified, interoperable network. In that sense, success will be measured not simply by how many kilometres of track are built, but by whether the system functions as a coherent urban railway once it is fully operational.
In that sense, both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are racing against an ambitious deadline while facing unprecedented technical, financial and institutional challenges. Whether the two cities can translate their ambitions into functioning metro systems that ease congestion, support economic growth and reshape urban development remains a question that only time can answer.
