Metro line No. 1 in Ho Chi Minh City has come into official operation on Sunday morning after 12 years of construction, marking a historic milestone in the urban transport development of the southern metropolis of Vietnam.

The official operation ceremony for the line was held by the city’s Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR) at Ben Thanh Station in District 1 at 7:00 am in an exciting and bustling atmosphere.

The event was attended by secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen, chairman of the local administration Phan Van Mai, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Ito Naoki, Japanese Consul General in the city Ono Masuo, representatives from several ministries, and other participants. 

After the ceremony and other procedures, the metro line’s first trains departed at 10:00 am, with all 14 stations open along the route from Ben Thanh to Suoi Tien Coach Station in Thu Duc City, a district-level unit of Ho Chi Minh City, according to MAUR.

Seventeen new electric bus routes have also been introduced, connecting passengers to the metro stations and vice versa.

The metro line spans 19.7 kilometers, including 2.6 kilometers of underground railway and 17.1 kilometers of elevated track.

Operating daily from 5:00 am to 10:00 pm, the metro will offer 200 trips per day, each taking approximately 30 minutes, with intervals between trains ranging from eight to 12 minutes.

The line has 17 trains, each of which consists of three carriages that can accommodate a total 930 passengers, including 147 sitting and 783 standing.

The trains can reach maximum speeds of 110kph on elevated sections and 80kph in underground areas.

Passengers can enjoy free rides during the first 30 days of operation, from December 22, 2024, to January 20, 2025.

To access the metro during this period, passengers can use EMV Mastercard cards, which are available for free at 14 stations, until January 9, 2025.

From January 10 to 20, 2025, additional payment methods will be accepted, including chip-embedded citizen identification cards, various bank cards, EMV cards from organizations such as Mastercard, Visa, JCB, AMEX, UPI, Napas, or QR codes via the HCMC Metro app.

“The commercial operation of metro line No. 1 marks the beginning of the Ho Chi Minh City metro system, creating an important stepping-stone for the city to build next urban railway lines, with a view to building a green, sustainable, civilized, and modern transport network,” Phan Cong Bang, head of MAUR, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper at the ceremony.

He also extended his gratitude to the city’s leaders and relevant agencies for their invaluable support during the project’s implementation.

“It is anticipated that over the next decade, we will achieve the project’s objectives, helping reduce reliance on private vehicles and successfully adopting transit-oriented development (TOD), an urban development model centered around public transportation,” he said.

Speaking at the ceremony, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Ito noted that the urban railway line would have a transformative impact on people’s lives.

“By connecting areas with high transportation demand, the line is expected to encourage a major shift from cars and motorbikes to urban railways,” he said.

The ambassador also emphasized that the success of metro line No. 1 could serve as a catalyst for other infrastructure projects.

“Chúc mừng tất cả các bạn [Congratulations to all of you],” Ambassador Ito added in Vietnamese.

Bui Xuan Cuong, deputy chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, described the metro line as a pivotal achievement in advancing modern public transportation systems aimed at easing traffic congestion and curbing environmental pollution.

“This line is not only a testament to the city administration’s unwavering efforts but also a symbol of the strong partnership between the governments of Vietnam and Japan,” Cuong said.

On behalf of the city’s leadership, Cuong expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the central government, the Japanese government, and the many experts, engineers, contractors, consultants, and workers who contributed to the project.

Nguyen Minh Vu, Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, praised the metro line as a significant symbol of Vietnam-Japan development cooperation.

He expressed confidence that the project would operate successfully, meeting the growing travel demands of the public and improving the overall quality of life.

“The success of this project will pave the way for further collaboration between the two countries in infrastructure development,” Vu added.

Among the many passengers on the first metro line on Sunday morning, Huynh Ngoc Chau, a 68-year-old local resident, shared his impressions of Thao Dien Station in Thu Duc.

“The station’s design is not inferior to those in Australia, which I’ve visited before,” Chau said. “In fact, it looks even more attractive than some of the metro stations there.”

Another passenger, Nguyen Van Phi, 65, a Thu Duc resident, said the metro line would make traveling across the city much easier for him.

He hoped that more metro lines would be developed in the future to meet growing travel demands, ease congestion, and reduce environmental pollution.

During the ceremony, Tuoi Tre distributed 1,000 complimentary copies of its Sunday edition to delegates and passengers. The front-page article highlighted the metro line’s official launch.

Metro line No. 1, the first of Ho Chi Minh City’s eight planned urban railway projects, began construction in August 2012 with a total investment of VND43,700 billion (US$1.72 billion).

The majority of the funding came from Japan’s official development assistance (ODA) loans, according MAUR.

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