Photo by Tron Le on Unsplash (illustrative)
On 22 December 2024, Ho Chi Minh City opened Metro Line 1, the Ben Thanh–Suoi Tien line, the city's first urban railway and Vietnam's first subway. In 2025, its first full year, it carried more than 20.5 million passengers, according to the city's urban railway company.
Key facts
The line runs 19.7 km with 14 stations, including a 2.5 km underground section with three stations in the city center.
It carried 20,558,990 passengers in 2025, about 56,300 a day, or 121.6% of its annual target.
It passed 10 million passengers by June 2025, roughly six months after opening.
Stations have platform screen doors, braille signage and wheelchair spaces; Japan's JICA funded the line through development loans.
Why it matters
Ho Chi Minh City is Vietnam's largest city, with some of Asia's most crowded streets. A fast, air-conditioned, accessible train gives commuters an alternative to long rides on a motorbike in heat, traffic and fumes, and it is the first piece of a wider metro network the city plans to build.
Worth noting
The project took 17 years from loan agreement to opening and was delayed many times. A single line cannot solve a megacity's traffic problems on its own.