Ho Chi Minh City races to build metro link to $13B Long Thanh Airport
Ho Chi Minh City is fast-tracking an underground metro line to connect its downtown to Long Thanh International Airport, Vietnam’s largest-ever infrastructure project, set to open by June with no rail link to the city that will supply most of its passengers.
The municipal vice chairman Bui Xuan Cuong has directed agencies to break ground on the 6-km Ben Thanh – Thu Thiem metro segment before April 20, leveraging special policy mechanisms to compress timelines.
The segment will run underground from Ben Thanh Station along Ham Nghi Street, cross beneath the Saigon River and continue along Mai Chi Tho Street to Thu Thiem, where it will eventually connect to a separate railway line running to Long Thanh airport in Dong Nai Province, about 40 km east of the city.
The urgency reflects a looming problem.
Long Thanh airport, with total investment estimated at almost VND337 trillion (US$12.94 billion), received its first ceremonial flight on Dec. 19, 2025 and is expected to begin commercial operations by mid-2026, initially handling long-haul flights from Europe, North America, India and the Middle East.
But access currently depends entirely on roads, primarily the already-congested Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway and national highways. Ho Chi Minh City, which will account for the majority of the airport’s passengers, has no direct rail connection to the new hub.
City leaders have identified completing the rail links before 2030 as a top priority. Beyond the Ben Thanh-Thu Thiem metro, a 42-km Thu Thiem-Long Thanh railway with 20 stations is also being fast-tracked. Together, the two lines would create a continuous rail corridor connecting Tan Son Nhat airport, downtown Ho Chi Minh City and Long Thanh airport, a system that officials describe as a strategic link between the city and Dong Nai Province.
Truong Hai Group, the conglomerate known as Thaco, has proposed building the Ben Thanh-Thu Thiem segment under a public-private partnership with a preliminary investment of VND33 trillion ($1.26 billion). The city approved Thaco in January to conduct a feasibility study, though formal investment approval has not yet been granted. Thaco is already the main contractor on the 11.3-km Ben Thanh – Tham Luong section of the same Metro Line 2, which broke ground on Jan. 15 with a VND55 trillion ($2.1 billion) budget.
Thaco is also studying the Thu Thiem-Long Thanh railway, with a preliminary investment estimated at approximately VND84.753 trillion ($3.24 billion). If both lines are completed on schedule, Ho Chi Minh City would have a modern rail network linking its two airports through the city center by 2030.
By Giang Anh – VnExpress.net – February 28, 2026