Accordingly, the Ministry of Construction proposed that the Prime Minister agree in principle to assign the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee as the competent authority to invest in the Thu Thiem - Long Thanh urban railway project.

In case of being assigned as the competent authority, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee will receive all existing research results of the Thu Thiem - Long Thanh urban railway project (currently implemented by the Railway Project Management Board - Ministry of Construction) to continue to deploy investment preparation and implementation.

Nhon-Cat Linh Railway .jpg
The Ministry of Construction proposed assigning Ho Chi Minh City to implement the Thu Thiem-Long Thanh railway project. Illustrative photo.

The Ministry of Construction has proposed that the Prime Minister allow the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to study adding the Thu Thiem - Long Thanh railway line to the Ho Chi Minh City urban railway planning.

At the same time, the Ministry also proposed that the Government consider and approve adding the Thu Thiem - Long Thanh railway line to the list of pilot projects with specific mechanisms and policies to develop the urban railway network system in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, which the National Assembly approved in Resolution 188.

According to the Ministry of Construction, this plan will help to soon deploy the railway connecting Tan Son Nhat International Airport with Long Thanh International Airport, ensuring the consistency in maximizing the exploitation of land funds surrounding the project area; increasing the initiative of the locality in implementing the project.

It is estimated that if the connecting route applies the above-mentioned special policy mechanism, the investment preparation work for the Thu Thiem - Long Thanh urban railway project will take about 1 year.

According to the plan of the Railway Project Management Board, Ministry of Construction, the Thu Thiem - Long Thanh urban railway line is about 42 km long, designed as a double track, 1435 mm gauge, designed speed of 120 km/h. The line includes 20 stations, transporting passengers from Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai province to Long Thanh International Airport. The project has a total estimated investment of about 3.5 billion USD.

Currently, the project's pre-feasibility study report has sought comments from localities. The Ministry of Construction is finalizing the pre-feasibility study report to submit to the National Assembly for approval of the investment policy in October 2025.