On June 22, Hanoi began construction on five metro lines totalling 298 km — the largest single-day metro groundbreaking in Southeast Asian history. Ho Chi Minh City is building driverless trains with Hyundai Rotem. Together, the two cities aim for nearly 800 km of metro by 2035.
Vietnam marked a turning point in its urban transport history on June 22, 2026, when Hanoi simultaneously broke ground on five metro lines spanning 298 km — the largest single-day metro construction launch in Southeast Asian history. Coupled with Ho Chi Minh City's expansion of its own network with driverless trains, Vietnam is now attempting what few countries have done: building an entire metro ecosystem from near-scratch in under a decade.
Five Lines, One Day, $50 Billion
The Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board appointed a consortium led by property developer Vinhomes and VinSpeed, a subsidiary of industrial conglomerate Vingroup, to deliver all five lines under engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts. The combined investment stands at approximately 1,300 trillion Vietnamese dong — roughly $50 billion.
The five lines cover dramatically different roles across the capital. Line 1, the longest at 81 km, will form the city's north–south spine, connecting the Ngoc Hoi railway industrial zone through Hanoi Station to Noi Bai International Airport. Line 2, at 56.5 km, threads through the historic centre via Hoan Kiem Lake before reaching southern urban areas. Line 8 is a 91 km west–east corridor linking the Hoa Lac high-tech zone to eastern Hanoi. Line 10, at 43 km, creates an orbital route through Ring Roads 3 and 2.5. Line 14, the shortest at 27 km, connects the Thang Long Bridge area to Gia Lam.
Hanoi's ambition extends well beyond these five lines. City authorities have set a target of 600 km of operational metro by 2035 and 979 km by 2045 — transforming a city of 8.4 million people that currently has just two short metro lines totalling roughly 26 km.
Ho Chi Minh City Bets on Driverless
While Hanoi builds for breadth, Ho Chi Minh City is deepening its existing network with advanced technology. The city's Line 1, a 19.7 km route with 14 stations, opened in late 2024 and has already carried over 20 million passengers in its first full year, averaging roughly 56,000 riders daily.
Line 2 construction began in January 2026, with an 11 km first phase featuring nine underground stations. In April, South Korean manufacturer Hyundai Rotem signed a 491 billion won (approximately $370 million) contract to supply 54 three-car driverless trainsets. Vietnamese conglomerate THACO, which led the civil works bid, is building a 320-hectare manufacturing and maintenance complex to localise future rolling stock production — a pattern familiar across Asia's metro-building boom.
Ho Chi Minh City plans to have 187 km of metro operational by 2030, with four new projects starting construction during 2026.
Can Vietnam Deliver?
Railway Gazette International's August 8 analysis noted that Vietnam's metro ambitions, while genuinely transformative, face the same execution challenges that delayed the country's earlier attempts. Hanoi's Line 2A (Cat Linh–Ha Dong), a 13 km Chinese-built elevated line, took over a decade from groundbreaking to its November 2021 opening. Line 3's elevated section similarly faced years of delays before opening in August 2024.
The difference this time is domestic industrial capacity. Vingroup, Vietnam's largest private conglomerate, brings construction logistics that foreign-led consortia lacked. Hyundai Rotem's technology transfer to THACO ensures rolling stock can eventually be built domestically. And public support is strong: both Hanoi's and HCMC's existing lines exceeded ridership projections, proving demand is real.
The Bengaluru Parallel
Vietnam's metro push mirrors India's own urban rail expansion at remarkable scale. Bengaluru's Namma Metro, with 76 km operational across the Purple and Green Lines plus the driverless Yellow Line, is itself part of a national programme that has built over 1,000 km of metro across Indian cities since 2002.
The parallels run deep: both countries are rapidly motorising economies turning to metro rail to solve crippling urban congestion. Both are adopting driverless technology — Namma Metro's Yellow Line operates GoA4 fully automated trains, while HCMC's Line 2 will run driverless Hyundai Rotem trainsets. Both are localising manufacturing, with India's BEML and Titagarh building metro coaches in Bengaluru and Kolkata, and Vietnam's THACO preparing to do the same near Ho Chi Minh City.
Even the orbital concept appears in both countries: Hanoi's Line 10 will function as a 43 km ring connecting radial lines, much like Namma Metro's planned Phase 3 Outer Ring Road orbital line in Bengaluru.
Key Numbers
- 298 km of new metro lines launched in Hanoi on June 22, 2026
- $50 billion total investment across Hanoi's five lines
- 81 km: Hanoi Line 1 (longest), connecting city centre to Noi Bai Airport
- 54 driverless trainsets ordered for HCMC Line 2 from Hyundai Rotem
- 20.6 million passengers carried on HCMC Line 1 in its first full year
- 600 km of metro targeted in Hanoi by 2035
- 187 km of metro targeted in Ho Chi Minh City by 2030
- 979 km: Hanoi's ultimate metro network target by 2045
Sources
- Railway Gazette International — Vietnam: Ambitious Metro Expansion Targets Just Out of Reach
- Railway Gazette International — Consortium Appointed to Deliver Five Metro Projects in Hanoi
- Railway Gazette International — Hyundai Rotem Signs Ho Chi Minh City Metro Contract
- VietnamPlus — Hanoi Launches Construction of Five Metro Lines Spanning Over 300 km
- IndexBox — Hanoi Metro Expansion: Consortium Selected for Five Lines Worth €43 Billion