The Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR) in Ho Chi Minh City, the Department of Planning and Architecture, the Department of Construction, the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies, the Ho Chi Minh City Development Research Board, and consulting firms met on August 1 to discuss the city's master plan for urban rail development.
At the meeting, the agencies agreed on several key research directions aimed at building an integrated public transportation network to support Ho Chi Minh City's development vision over the next 100 years.
A key planning direction is to develop Ho Chi Minh City as a multi-center urban area, with the urban railway network serving as the backbone for spatial development. Railway lines will be integrated with transit-oriented development (TOD), concentrating residents, jobs, and economic activities along public transport corridors while limiting urban sprawl.
Stations, particularly interchange hubs in gateway and suburban areas, will be studied for development into centers for services, commerce, education, and entertainment, creating new growth poles.
The agencies also agreed to continue studying a proposal to expand the total length of the urban railway network from about 1,024 kilometers to approximately 1,540 kilometers. The expansion would be based on reviewing and integrating planning with neighboring localities to create a seamless transport network across the Southern Key Economic Region and ease traffic congestion in the city center.
Ho Chi Minh City will also continue studying the construction of Operations Control Centers (OCCs) and shared depot systems to optimize investment costs, standardize technology, and improve operational efficiency. Plans for last-mile connections through buses and other modes of transportation will also be developed to make the urban railway system more accessible to residents.
The research findings will be further refined before being submitted to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee for consideration.
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