Connecting Vietnam's high-speed railway stations with urban rail transit

Vietnam is planning to build a high-speed railway from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. 23 stations are planned for the line, and they will all be new stations located in different areas from the current stations of the North-South Railway.

Some of the new stations will be much further out from the city centre than the current stations, so efficient transit systems will be required to transport passengers to and from the stations.

Two stations are confirmed to have connecting metro lines (Line 1 in Hanoi and Line 2 in HCMC). Da Nang is also planning to build urban railways, which will most likely include a connection to the high-speed station.

Should other cities be considering urban railways to connect the high-speed stations?

This post covers the confirmed and proposed metro lines that will connect the high-speed stations. I have also made a list of cities that should consider building a transit line to their high-speed station.

Confirmed transit lines

Hanoi

The current Hanoi Station is close to the old city area in Hoan Kiem District. It’s a great location, so I will be sad to see the station close (though the 5 and a half hour trip from Saigon will console this loss). The high-speed station (Ngoc Hoi Station) will be 10 km south of the current Hanoi Station.

While I prefer stations to be as close to the city centre as possible, there is no way that the high-speed railway could be built in the same corridor as the current North-South line.

The approach to Hanoi Station goes through small alleys lined with houses. Even if you have never been there, you have probably seen the “Hanoi Train Street” videos on social media. They would need to demolish thousands of houses to run an elevated railway through old Hanoi.

Fortunately, Hanoi has a plan to connect the high-speed station with the old city area via a metro.

Line 1 of the Hanoi Metro will be an underground line that follows the same path of the current North-South line. This means that there will be a metro line from Ngoc Hoi to Hanoi Station (the metro station will retain the Hanoi name).

The line then extends through the old quarter of Hoan Kien, under the famous Train Street. The line then continues across the Red River (near the current Long Bien Bridge) and towards Gia Lam Station. The section between Hanoi and Gia Lam is used by trains to Haiphong, so the metro will enable Hanoi to close down all of the lines that run through the narrow alleys.

The government wants to complete the high-speed railway by 2035, which would be incredible if it were built that fast. My concern is that Line 2A of the Hanoi Metro took 10 years to build, and Line 3 took 14 years to partially open.

Line 1 has not begun construction yet, and the next lines to be built are Lines 4 and 5. Considering how long it takes to build metro lines, Line 1 should be under construction now so it has a chance of being ready when the high-speed railway opens.

Ho Chi Minh City

The current station of Ho Chi Minh City (Ga Sai Gon) is close to the city centre, but it’s not in a good location to send trains to the north. The line has to loop around the city, and it also goes through narrow alleys.

The high-speed station will be in Thu Thiem, which is the new urban area on the east side of the Saigon River. The city planners were fortunate to have the line terminate in a relatively undeveloped area close to the city centre.

Thu Thiem Station will be connected to Ben Thanh Metro Station by Line 2 of the HCMC Metro. This is about 7 km away, so this is a good outcome.

Like Hanoi, my concern here is that there is not enough urgency in building this line. It took 12 years to build Line 1 of the HCMC Metro, and Phase 1 of Line 2 has still not started construction after years of false starts. Line 2 is meant to start construction at the end of 2025, but this doesn’t include the Ben Thanh to Thu Thiem section.

Proposed transit lines

Da Nang

Da Nang has proposed to build several urban railways, including a link from the new high-speed station to the city centre. Plans for a Da Nang Metro go back to 2012, and it also includes a rail link connecting Da Nang and Hoi An.

Part of the urban rail plan is to redevelop the Da Nang Station area. The current rail corridor in the city area could be used as a corridor for a transit line.

Da Nang currently has the advantage of the train station and airport being in the city centre. The high-speed station for Da Nang is about 12 km inland from the current station, so it loses that competitive advantage of being centrally located.

The good news for Da Nang is that they haven’t built any urban railways yet. Yes, this is good news, because they can design an integrated transit system that connects the high-speed railway with the airport, the city and the beach area, and also to Hoi An.

Hoi An doesn’t have a train station on the North-South Line, and it is not included on the high-speed railway either. If Da Nang are planning to build a railway to Hoi An, then it should begin at the future high-speed station.

New lines proposed by Future Southeast Asia

These are cities that don’t have a planned transit line connecting the city centre to the high-speed railway station. I have listed some cities that could build a line, and I offer some reasons why.

Nha Trang

The high-speed railway will have five express stations: Hanoi, Vinh, Da Nang, Nha Trang, and Ho Chi Minh City. That leaves Vinh and Nha Trang as the only express stations without a planned urban rail connection.

I have picked Nha Trang as it’s a tourism powerhouse and because the new station will be further out of the city centre. If someone wants to represent Vinh, I will be happy to read the proposal.

The high-speed railway for Nha Trang will be at Dien Khanh Station, which is 11 km inland from the current station.

I made a map of my proposed urban railway to connect Nha Trang to Dien Khanh Station, and as a bonus, I turned it into an airport rail link.

I have already written about this, so here is my proposal for a Nha Trang HSR Airport Railway.

Hue

The historic city of Hue is one of the main stops on the north-south tourist trail, so Hue will be one of the busiest non-express stations. Hue is another city that will trade its inner city train station for a station that is further from the city.

There is no formal plan for a transit line in Hue, but there was an informal proposal in 2022 for a tramway system. Hue’s rainy climate reminds me of tram cities in Europe, so I could see Hue becoming a great tram city.

The tram proposal is light on details, but the Red Line that is shown in the video goes closest to where the new station would be. I only have the screenshot from the video of the map, so if anyone has the original copy of this map, I would be happy to publish it here.

Note that the blue line on the map uses the current North-South Line. The North-South Line is going to be kept for freight, otherwise, the line could be repurposed for transit use. The North-South Line goes past Hue Airport, so the line could also be used as an airport rail link for Hue.

Quy Nhon

The city of Quy Nhon is aspiring to be a great coastal city like Da Nang and Nha Trang. There are currently no international flights to Quy Nhon, but a high-speed railway connection might entice visitors in Da Nang and Nha Trang to visit.

Quy Nhon is an unusual city on the Vietnam Railways network. There is a spur line from Dieu Tri Station on the North-South line to Quy Nhon Station in Quy Nhon City.

This line is only used on public holidays with overnight services between Saigon and Quy Nhon. Like most of the Vietnam rail network, the line is not elevated in the city sections.

Even though there is an established spur line, a transit line from Dieu Tri High-Speed Station to Quy Nhon City would take some work to make happen.

First of all, there would need to be a new line from Dieu Tri High-Speed Station to the old Dieu Tri Station. Then the transit line would run in the same corridor as the spur line. The problem here is that the line runs on the ground, and it would be too disruptive to run frequent services. So this is not a matter of repurposing an old line. Instead, the line will need to be elevated.

Developers have been throwing money at turning the Quy Nhon coast into an international tourism hub, so why not throw some money at a transit line as well? If they wanted to go deluxe, they could extend the transit line to the airport. Phu Cat Airport (the airport for Quy Nhon) is near the North-South railway line, so part of the old line could be used as an airport rail link.

Phan Thiet

Like Quy Nhon, Phan Thiet is on a spur line off the main North-South Line. Unlike Quy Nhon, Phan Thiet has regular services and is often booked out. Phan Thiet is closer to Saigon (about 4 hours away), so it’s an easy train ride for a beach escape.

The Phan Thiet spur line would be the easiest line to convert out of any of these suggestions.

Muong Man High-Speed Railway Station is close to the current Binh Thuan Station (where the Phan Thiet branch line begins). A short extension could be built to connect Muong Man to the Phan Thiet line.

Shuttle trains could then run between Muong Man and Phan Thiet. The current journey only takes 10 minutes, so the train can run on the single track without needing to be double-tracked.

The main problem would be that any level crossing would have to be automated. There are currently only 2 trains a day in each direction on this line, and the level crossings are manually operated. A frequent service would require automated level crossing barriers.

This line is so obvious that I would be surprised if it hasn’t already been considered. This would be a cheap way to connect the high-speed railway to Phan Thiet City, and it would reduce the number of bus and taxi journeys that need to go to the high-speed station.

A more expensive long-term plan would be to extend the line from Phan Thiet towards the Mui Ne beach resort coast. The line could be extended to the roundabout at the start of the beach road, and shuttle buses and taxis could wait there.

This extension to the coast would be expensive, but Phan Thiet will be competing with other coastal cities on the high-speed line for alighting passengers.

Thap Cham

For the last entry on this list, I have picked a city that would be unlikely to build a transit line, but I give some reasons why it should consider it.

Thap Cham is the station for Phan Rang–Thap Cham. In this case, the new Thap Cham station will be closer to the city than the old city.

This is already a great upgrade for the city, but here are two reasons why it should consider a transit line.

Phan Rang–Thap Cham is developing its coastline, but it’s a struggling area. Having a transit line that goes from the station to the city centre, and then to the beach area, would be a win for the people of Phan Rang–Thap Cham, and it would boost the appeal of the beach for tourists.

Another reason to consider a transit line is that Thap Cham will be the starting point for the proposed rebuilt Da Lat–Thap Cham Railway.

Da Lat is a popular destination in the Central Highlands region, and a train to the highlands that is connected to the high-speed railway would be a tourism winner. The problem for Phan Rang–Thap Cham is that tourists might just get on the next train out of town after going to Da Lat, so the city needs to entice more people to stay. If there is a transit line from the station to the coastal area, then tourists could go from Da Lat to the beach in Phan Rang–Thap Cham, instead of getting the next train to Nha Trang.

Conclusion

The high-speed railway will be a boost for domestic tourism for the cities that are on the line, but they will still need to work to make their city a compelling place to stay.

Some people may consider these transit lines too ambitious, but the high-speed railway is already the most ambitious railway project in Southeast Asia. If we are going to dream big with this high-speed plan, then why not add a few urban railways to go with it?