Ho Chi Minh City Opens Its First Metro Line

Ho Chi Minh City opened its first metro line on 22 December 2024. Line 1 runs for 19.7 kilometres from Ben Thanh Market, in the heart of District 1, to Suoi Tien in the north-east, with 14 stations, three of them underground. The official inauguration followed on 13 March 2025.

A long wait

The line was approved in 2007 and construction began in 2012. It was financed largely by loans from Japan and built by Japanese contractors, with trains supplied by Hitachi. Delays over funding, design changes and payments pushed the opening back by several years. When the doors opened, residents queued for hours to ride it, and the line carried far more passengers than forecast during its first weeks, when travel was free.

A city of ten million people and eight million motorbikes had until then no rail transit of any kind. The line is the first of a planned network.

What it means for visitors

The three underground stations are the ones that matter to travellers. Ben Thanh, the terminus, is beneath the roundabout in front of the market. Opera House station opens on Lam Son Square, beside the Municipal Theatre, Park Hyatt Saigon and the Caravelle, and a short walk from The Reverie Saigon. Its completion ended a decade in which hoardings had blocked Le Loi Boulevard and the square. Ba Son station serves the riverside development on the site of the old shipyard.

Beyond Ba Son the line rises on a viaduct, crosses the Saigon River and follows the Hanoi Highway through Thao Dien, the district of villas, cafés and international schools where many foreign residents live, to the university area and the Suoi Tien amusement park. The run from end to end takes about half an hour. The elevated section gives a good view of the river and of Landmark 81, the country’s tallest building.

Using it

Trains run from early morning until late evening, every few minutes at busy times. Fares are low and depend on distance, and passengers can pay by tapping a bank card at the gates or buy day passes. Trains have three cars and are air-conditioned. For a visitor, the most useful journey is from the Opera House to Thao Dien, which takes about fifteen minutes and avoids the bridge traffic.

What comes next

Line 2, running north-west from Ben Thanh, is the next to be built, and the city has announced plans for a much larger network over the coming decade. For now, the opening of Line 1 has changed the centre of the city: Le Loi is a boulevard again, and the square in front of the Opera House has been returned to pedestrians.