Ho Chi Minh City Gets Its Metro
Huge crowds on opening day
Good morning from wintry Ho Chi Minh City, where morning temperatures are a chilly 21 C (70 F) at the moment. I said that Friday’s newsletter would be the last Vietnam Weekly of the year, but I can’t let yesterday’s historic opening of the Bến Thành - Suối Tiên metro line go without comment. If you’re reading this via email, be sure to expand the post as it’s likely been clipped due to the length.
I already wrote about last week’s ‘soft opening’ of the route for paying subscribers, so this will mostly be photos.
I walked over to Thảo Điền Station around 10 am - the announced opening time for the metro line. The pedestrian footbridges linked to the station were now open, crowds were milling about, and banks were already promoting accounts to pay for tickets in the future.
Tickets are free for the first 30 days of operation, so the turnstiles to get to the trains were left open. I took the escalator up to the platform, where a crowd had gathered. A train arrived shortly afterward to cheers - it stopped for about 30 seconds and carried on without the doors opening.
It was too full to take more passengers.
Two more trains did the same thing - they were arriving every eight minutes or so, and the crowd continued to grow.
At that point, I decided to just go home and try again later, though I heard from a friend that the next train did open the doors, with mayhem ensuing.
I had already planned to meet some friends in the ‘Japantown’ on Lê Thánh Tôn Street in the afternoon, so around 4 pm I went back to Thảo Điền Station. A train happened to be there when I got off the escalator, and the doors were open - it was packed, but there was just enough space to get on.
I rode it to Ba Son - one of the three underground stations on the line. The spacious station was almost empty. It seems Bến Thành Station was drawing the crowds, with local media publishing photos of thousands of people there, including some who had traveled from the Central Highlands to try the metro.
Ba Son has several exits, making this a pretty useful stop. (The stations are barren at the moment - no shops, no kiosks, no advertising signs.) I went toward the Ngô Văn Năm exit and was greeted by a view of Ba Son Bridge at the top of the steps, with a short walk to my destination.
From my house to Japantown in 20-25 minutes, including walking - not bad, and probably faster than a motorbike or car during rush hour, plus without the noise and pollution of the streets. It’s a new era for HCMC!
Happy holidays, and see you in 2025!
Finally!