Outside the waiting hall of Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, traffic is congested all year round. The citizens of this Vietnamese economic center are eagerly awaiting a rail transit that can connect the two airports and the inner ring of the city - and this time, the first blueprint for this subway was drawn by a team from China.

On July 4, 2026, the City Railway Administration of Ho Chi Minh City (MAUR) officially announced the results of the feasibility study and front-end engineering design (FEED) consulting services for the first phase of the Metro Line 6 project. The contract was awarded to a consortium consisting of Guangzhou Metro Design and Research Institute, Tedi South Vietnam, and Port Coast Consulting Company. The contract amount for this project is 315.2 billion Vietnamese dong (approximately 12 million US dollars), with an execution period of 270 days. As required, the consortium will conduct a comprehensive survey and research on the entire line, study the urban development strategy under the TOD bus oriented development model, prepare a feasibility study report on subway lines and land acquisition compensation and resettlement, and finalize the final route direction and layout of buildings along the line.

This is the third time that Guangzhou Metro Group and its design institutes have won the preliminary consulting business for the core subway lines in Ho Chi Minh City, following the feasibility study and project management consulting for Line 2 and Line 4. In June of this year, Guangzhou Metro just established a representative office in Ho Chi Minh City. This bid is seen as an inevitable extension of deepening the local market - the early-stage consulting team often has more opportunities to undertake subsequent detailed design and technical services.

The inner ring backbone line connecting the two airports

The Ho Chi Minh City Metro Line 6 is planned as an urban inner ring rail transit line, with a total length of approximately 53.8 kilometers. The first phase of the project launched this time is the section from Johor Bahru International Airport to Fuyou, with a total length of about 23 kilometers, which is a priority construction section. The line will transfer with Metro Line 2 at Baquet Station and serve various terminals of Johor Bahru International Airport. The endpoint in the Fuyou area can be transferred to the Shoutian Longcheng Railway, ultimately building a seamless rail network connecting the city center, old airport, Longcheng New International Airport, and the eastern gateway of the city. It is regarded as one of the four urban rail transit corridors connecting the old and new aviation hubs.

Chinese standards continue to be implemented in Southeast Asia

From winning the bid for the feasibility study and full process consultation of Line 2 in 2025, to participating in the feasibility study preparation of Line 4, and then to the preliminary consultation of Line 6, Guangzhou Metro has formed a full chain involvement of planning, design, and consultation in the Vietnamese market. Currently, only the Japanese assisted Line 1 in Ho Chi Minh City will be opened by the end of 2024, with less than 10% of public transportation travel. The planned urban rail transit mileage will reach 187 kilometers by 2030. The huge infrastructure gap combined with China's mature experience in subway construction and TOD development has led to increasing recognition of Chinese enterprises in the fields of technical standard output and engineering consulting.keywords:Southeast Asia engineering information network，Foreign engineering construction news

Expected to continue the full process service advantage

It is widely expected in the industry that with the comprehensive acceleration of the construction of the Ho Chi Minh City subway - the latest plan plans to simultaneously promote multiple lines, with a total investment expected to reach tens of billions of dollars - the consulting party that completes the preliminary feasibility study and FEED design will have a first mover advantage in the competition of subsequent preliminary design, construction drawing design, and related technical services. Guangzhou Metro has representatives at the forefront, connecting the three cities at the back, and is gradually transforming from a single project consulting to a comprehensive overseas expansion of technical standards and operation and maintenance systems.Editor/Yang Meiling