en.Wedoany.com Reported - Ho Chi Minh City plans to build a 355-kilometer urban railway network by 2035 to meet residents' travel needs and reshape urban space following the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) model. As state budget allocations and sponsorship funds fall short of meeting all requirements, expanding private sector participation and investing in urban railway lines through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) models are seen as effective measures to alleviate state financial pressure and develop infrastructure systems to serve national socio-economic development goals in the new phase.
Recently, Resolution No. 9 issued by the Politburo of the Party Central Committee clearly stated that by 2030, the city will complete the construction of 200 kilometers of urban railway, moving towards the goal of basically completing the metro network by 2045. Given the increasingly apparent limitations of traditional investment models relying on foreign loans, and to accelerate the mobilization of socialized resources, the Steering Committee for Urban Railway Network System Development has directed that in the 2025-2030 period, priority investment be concentrated on six metro projects, including: Line 2 (Ben Thanh - Tham Luong section), Line 2 (Ben Thanh - Thu Thiem section), Thu Thiem - Long Thanh line, Binh Duong New City - Suoi Tien line, Line 6 Phase 1 (Tan Son Nhat Airport - Phu Huu section), and the Ben Thanh - Can Gio line. The city will strive to complete approximately 200 kilometers of urban railway by 2030, with an initial total investment exceeding 19 billion USD, meeting 20% to 30% of residents' travel needs by then.
Currently, several enterprises are implementing or studying various metro projects in Ho Chi Minh City. Typical examples include: Vin Group investing in the Ben Thanh - Can Gio metro line; Truong Hai Group (Thaco) undertaking the construction of Line 2's Ben Thanh - Thu Thiem section (which started in April 2026) and is finalizing the study for the Thu Thiem - Long Thanh railway, preparing for groundbreaking in July 2026. Additionally, Sovico Group has proposed developing Line 4 (Dong Thanh - Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park section) via PPP or direct investment; Masterise Group has proposed studying Line 3 (Hiep Binh Phuoc - An Ha section) under a PPP model (BT contract type); and the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has assigned Becamex Group to study the investment plan for the national railway (U Bon - Cai Mep section).
Since ticket revenue is insufficient to cover initial investment, experts recommend that the city must thoroughly resolve core bottlenecks to enhance project attractiveness and feasibility. Specific measures include: establishing a risk-sharing mechanism to compensate for gaps between actual revenue and committed amounts; diversifying revenue sources by combining with the TOD model, allowing investors to develop urban and commercial areas around stations to unlock land value; clearly defining costs and fixed profit margins; and simultaneously, using public investment funds or municipal bonds to separate land acquisition and resettlement as an independent operation, thereby delivering cleared land to investors for immediate construction.
Building on Resolutions No. 98 (2023) and No. 188 (2025) of the National Assembly regarding special mechanisms and strong decentralization, Ho Chi Minh City is expected to achieve breakthroughs in introducing a PPP model combined with corporate "value capture" mechanisms, enabling the private sector to truly become a significant resource for large-scale transport infrastructure investment. To enable private capital to genuinely "flow into" the urban railway sector, the city urgently needs strong breakthroughs in mechanisms, policies, and methods of benefit sharing.
This article is compiled by Wedoany. All AI citations must indicate the source as "Wedoany". If there is any infringement or other issues, please notify us promptly, and we will modify or delete it accordingly. Email: news@wedoany.com
