Hanoi Metro Report (2024): Review of Line 3 and Line 2A

Line 3 of the Hanoi Metro partially opened in 2024, making it the second metro line in Hanoi (along with Line 2A). The two lines had lengthy construction delays, but at least the city has two lines to show for their work (meanwhile the first two lines of the HCMC Metro are still delayed).

I’ve been reviewing the progress of the Hanoi Metro since 2020 when the map of the operating metro was a blank sheet. I look forward to watching this map evolve over the years.

This Hanoi Metro report for 2024 covers reviews of Line 3 and 2A, and updates on future lines.

Line 3

Line 3 partially opened in August 2024. It took 14 years to build the 8.5-km elevated section between Nhon and Cau Giay, which is slow by any standard. Even Hanoi leaders have concerns that it will take 100 years to build 10 urban railway lines at this rate.

Cau Giay is the closest station to the city centre, though it’s not practical to walk there from the old city. I got a Grab motorbike taxi to Cau Giay station (about 6 km west of Hoan Kiem Lake in the old city area).

It was a positive start to see cleaning staff polishing the entrance to the walkway.

This feeling of positivity melted away when I saw that the ticketing system is different from Line 2A. Line 3 uses a token system, while Line 2A issues cards.

I planned to get on and off at different stations, so a day pass was the best option. They were not available via the machine when I went.

I bought a day ticket at the station office, which was a paper ticket with the date stamped on it. I had to show the ticket at the ticket office to get a new token for each journey. The day ticket cost 24,000 VND ($0.95 USD).

On my last trip of the day, I also bought a single ticket to see how the process works. The ticket was 8,000 VND ($0.32 USD) and there is the option of paying by cash or card.

Vietnam no longer has coins (I would see them occasionally at supermarkets when I first came here), so I bought a ticket in cash to see how the change works. I put in 10,000 VND and got 2 x 1,000 VND notes back. I can’t recall ever seeing a vending machine that dispenses notes for change.

Cau Giay is currently the terminal station until the line is extended to Hanoi Station. The platform is cordoned off to allow alighting passengers off.

I was riding mid-morning so it wasn’t a good hour to gauge if the train is popular yet. There seemed to be a lot of locals who were just checking it out like I was.

The trains are built by Alstom from France. Most modern metro systems look the same these days, so most people aren’t going to notice the differences between makers.

One of the notable differences between Line 2A and Line L3 is that Line 3 has these dumb route maps. A smart route map has lights that indicate where you are and what direction you are going. This was annoying to look at and not knowing where the train was.

There are information screens in the carriages that show the location of the route, but this is not visible everywhere.

I got the train to the end of the line at Nhon.

There is a massive car park next to the station, so will be good when the line is fully open and people can opt to get the train instead of driving.

A sign of a civilised society is where metro systems have toilets outside of the ticketing area.

On the ride back into the city I got off at National University Station. Next to the station is Loop Shopping Centre by Takashimaya Group. There is a mall, office tower, and apartment tower in this development.

It’s too bad they didn’t build a sky bridge connecting the mall to the station, but apart from that quibble, this is a good glimpse into what transit-oriented developments will look like for Hanoi.

The next station I got off at was Chua Ha. The area around this station has already boomed, with office towers, malls, and apartment blocks clustered nearby. The one advantage of the metro being delayed for so long is that some of the big projects around the stations were ready before the metro opened.

I returned to Cau Giay and walked along the unfinished underground section of the Line. Tunnel boring began in July 2024 and the underground section is expected to be completed by 2027.

The first underground station is at Kim Ma. This area has anticipated the metro in advance as there are some big towers near the station. The Lotte Center Hanoi (272 m) is the main landmark in this area.

The next station is Cat Linh, where Line 3 will interchange with Line 2A. Or at least it should interchange, but an interchange hasn’t been built. I noticed this when I first visited Line 2A, and it has been disturbing me ever since.

There is now talk of building a tunnel between the two stations, but this should have been done while they were building the stations.

The next station is Van Mieu, near the Temple of Literature. This is the first station that will be of use from a tourism perspective.

The last station is Hanoi, which is in front of Ha Noi Railway Station.

Hanoi Metro Station will interchange with the future Line 1. This line will be built to connect the city centre to the future high-speed railway station at Ngoc Hoi. Ha Noi Railway Station will not be used for national railways in the future, so the station will just be a metro interchange.

Line 2A

I have been on Line 2A before, but I wanted to ride it again to compare it with Line 3.

I asked if I could use my Line 3 day pass on Line 2A, but it was not accepted. Both lines are operated by Hanoi Metro, so I have no idea why they would opt to have lines with different ticketing systems.

I bought a single ticket, which can only be bought with cash.

Here is the smart route map on Line 2A. This should be the base minimum for any metro system.

There were a decent amount of passengers considering I was there in the middle of the day. This is all the more impressive considering that the two lines aren’t connected and don’t go to the city centre. The system won’t be useful until there are more interchange lines.

The future interchange stations are what concern me the most about the Hanoi Metro. There are some Hanoi metro maps that show the future interchange stations, though the official maps are not very detailed.

This is the map from the official Hanoi Metro website.

One of the future interchange stations is at Vanh Dai 3 Station, so I went there to have a look. All of the stations that are built so far are elevated stations that look like this. There is no provision for a future interchange, so I wonder how they are going to connect the future lines.

I walked back to the previous station at Thuong Dinh so I could look at the station from the outside. Another line will interchange here, though once again there is no interchange built here.

Future lines

Apart from the construction of the underground section of Line 3, there are no other lines under construction.

There have been numerous grand announcements over the last year to expand the network. The Politburo wants Hanoi to build 400 kilometers of metro routes within 11 years, though the Hanoi Urban Railway Management Board has a more realistic outlook about this lofty goal.

Line 2

Line 2 (Hoan Kiem Line) will connect Noi Bai International Airport to the old city area in Hoan Kiem District. This line would have been the logical first line to start, and it was approved 15 years ago. The most recent report said that the Line 2 project will completed by 2031.

Here is the Line 2 fact sheet.

Line 3

Line 3 will be extended another 8.7 km from Hanoi Railway Station to Hoang Mai district. Hopefully, this will be ready for construction by the time the tunnel-boring machines arrive at Hanoi Station.

Line 5

Line 5 is a planned line from South West Lake at Van Cao Road to Bi Vi District in the northwest of Hanoi. Line 5 is also referred to by its route as the Van Cao ↔ Hoa Lac Line.

Hanoi’s Department of Transport, China’s Pacific Construction, and Vinaconex signed a memorandum of understanding to study and build Line 5.

hanoirailtransit.com

This year I started a new website at hanoirailtransit.com. I’m not as familiar with the geography of Hanoi as I am with Ho Chi Minh City, so I have started this website to place all of my metro notes in one place. I am keeping track of news for all of the lines, and compiling the official and independent maps in one place.