Ho Chi Minh City plans 30-minute nonstop metro linking Tan Son Nhat and Long Thanh airports
Ho Chi Minh City is studying a plan to run express metro trains between Tan Son Nhat and Long Thanh airports, cutting travel time to about 30 minutes over a distance of roughly 60 km, the city’s top leader said.
Party Committee Secretary Tran Luu Quang outlined the scenario at a voter conference on March 10, saying the trains would skip intermediate stations to achieve the target time. The plan is based on the urban railway network Ho Chi Minh City is aggressively building this term.
Two routing options are under consideration. In the first, passengers from Tan Son Nhat would ride Metro Line 6 along the Pham Van Dong-Phu Huu corridor, then connect with the Thu Thiem-Long Thanh railway to reach the new airport. In the second, passengers would travel through the metro network to central Ben Thanh, cross to Thu Thiem, and continue on the same railway to Long Thanh.
Metro Line 6 is planned to run through Tan Son Nhat Airport along the Pham Van Dong axis, with the first phase from Tan Son Nhat to Phu Huu prioritized for the 2026-2030 period. The Thu Thiem-Long Thanh railway, a separate 42-km line with 20 stations, was approved in January 2026 as a public-private partnership estimated at VND84.7 trillion (US$3.2 billion), with construction targeted to begin in late 2026 and commercial operations by 2030.
When passenger volumes are large enough, the city would organize nonstop express services between the airports, Quang said. If demand requires serving intermediate areas, trains could stop at select major stations, though travel time would exceed 30 minutes.
The connectivity push comes as Long Thanh Airport, a nationally significant project covering about 5,000 hectares with total investment of nearly VND337 trillion ($12.9 billion), prepares to begin commercial operations in June 2026.
In its early phase, the airport with a designed capacity of 25 million passengers a year is projected to primarily serve travelers from Ho Chi Minh City and surrounding provinces. Transport links currently rely on the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway and National Highways 1 and 51.
Quang said some have suggested that Long Thanh should handle all international flights while Tan Son Nhat serves only domestic routes, but he cautioned against such a rigid division. He pointed to Tokyo, where Haneda and Narita airports share both international and domestic traffic based on market demand and airline preferences rather than a fixed split.
What matters, he said, is operating the airport system efficiently.
Party General Secretary To Lam has tasked Ho Chi Minh City with solving the connectivity challenge between the two airports.
Quang also acknowledged problems closer to home. Traffic around Tan Son Nhat remains chaotic, and navigating between its three terminals is a particular pain point. Terminal T3, which opened in April 2025 as a new domestic facility, sits apart from the older T1 and T2 buildings. A passenger who arrives at the wrong terminal can spend up to an hour reaching the right one during peak congestion.
The root cause, Quang said, is that there was never a comprehensive master plan for connecting the airport with other transport modes. Infrastructure was expanded piecemeal over the years to meet short-term demand, leaving a disjointed system.
On the long-delayed underground parking facility at Tan Son Nhat, Quang said the city « accepts blame » for the slow progress. Building underground parking with public funds is prohibitively expensive, while private investors have been reluctant because the revenue model is difficult to sustain.
« If you charge VND1 million ($38) per hour per vehicle, that is unacceptable. But charging tens of thousands or even VND100,000 ($3.80) would not cover costs, » he said.
The city plans to explore support mechanisms for investors, potentially through land allocation or budget subsidies.
By Le Tuyet – VnExpress.net – March 12, 2026