Metro Trains At 120 Kph To Link Ho Chi Minh City To $13 Billion Long Thanh Airport

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam – A 46-kilometre rail line connecting central Ho Chi Minh City to Long Thanh International Airport is set to break ground around September 2, with a preliminary cost of 134 trillion Vietnamese dong, equivalent to approximately 5.12 billion US dollars, according to the project's feasibility study. The route runs from the eastern side of Thu Thiem station on the Ben Thanh-Thu Thiem metro line to the Cam Duong depot in Dong Nai City, with elevated track accounting for 34.54 kilometres and tunnels for 11.01 kilometres.

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The full line features 18 stations, comprising 16 elevated and two underground, with phase one building 14 of them to control upfront costs. Six stations are located in Ho Chi Minh City, including Binh Trung, Do Xuan Hop, Ring Road 2, Phu Huu, Long Truong, and Vuon Dua, while eight stations in Dong Nai include Long Tan, Phu Thanh, Tuy Ha, Nhon Trach, Phuoc Thien, Xom Goc, Long Thanh 1, and Long Thanh 2. The alignment follows the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway and Ring Road 3, connecting with six other rail lines and linking to the Ben Thanh-Thu Thiem metro, Metro Line 6, and Metro Line 10.

Peak capacity is nearly 47,000 passengers per hour, with trains designed for speeds of 120 kilometres per hour and operating at 80 to 110 kilometres per hour depending on the section. The trains will operate under GoA4 automation, the highest grade under international rail standards, with no driver or attendant on board, and rolling stock, signalling, and power systems will match those of the Tham Luong-Ben Thanh-Thu Thiem metro. The investor will raise capital under a build-transfer contract and be repaid with land and state budget funds, with completion set for 2030.

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Long Thanh airport, Vietnam's future largest international airport with a total investment of 336.63 trillion dong (13 billion US dollars), is due to open to commercial flights on December 1, with phase one covering a single terminal sized for 25 million passengers annually. The airport will replace Tan Son Nhat as the international air traffic hub in southern Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City aims to reach 255 kilometres of urban rail by 2030, with other projects in preparation including the Binh Duong New City-Suoi Tien line, the first phase of Metro Line 6 from Tan Son Nhat to Phu Huu, the Thu Dau Mot-Tao Dan line, and the Tham Luong-An Ha-Northwest Urban Area section of Metro Line 2.