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| Rendering of a Vinspeed trainset by Siemens Mobility. The train will utilize the Velaro Novo platform |
Vietnam is about to make history. This coming Sunday, April 12, 2026, the country will officially break ground on its very first high-speed rail line—a project that promises to slash travel times and modernise a railway network that has seen little change in decades.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Hanoi–Quang Ninh high-speed railway will take place at the construction site of Ha Long Xanh Station in Tuan Chau Ward, Quang Ninh province. The project, being developed by Vinspeed (a subsidiary of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup), represents a giant leap forward for a nation whose existing rail infrastructure is predominantly a non-electrified metre-gauge system dating back to the colonial era.
The new line will stretch approximately 120 kilometres from the capital Hanoi to the coastal city of Ha Long—one of Vietnam's most popular tourist destinations, famous for its emerald waters and limestone islands. With a maximum design speed of 350 km/h, the journey is projected to take just 20 to 23 minutes.
To put that in perspective, a car journey between the two cities currently takes around two and a half hours on a good day. The existing rail network? Forget about it—that would take the better part of a day.
How realistic is that 23-minute travel time?
It's a fair question. For comparison, Indonesia's Whoosh high-speed line—also designed for 350 km/h and using Chinese CRRC trainsets—takes 47 minutes to cover 140 kilometres, including a three-minute stop at Padalarang. The Whoosh trains are known for their strong acceleration and do reach 350 km/h in practice, so based on that experience, the actual travel time on Vietnam's new line may end up being slightly longer than the optimistic projections. Still, even a 30‑ to 35‑minute journey would be a game-changer.
The line will include five stations: Co Loa, Gia Binh, Ninh Xa, Yen Tu and Ha Long Xanh, with a depot located at the Ha Long Xanh station for maintenance and train storage. It will pass through four provinces and cities—Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Hai Phong and Quang Ninh—making it a truly inter-regional project.
Siemens Mobility takes the wheel
The trains themselves will be supplied by Siemens Mobility, which signed a strategic partnership agreement with Vinspeed in early 2026. Under the deal, Siemens will provide Velaro Novo high-speed trainsets, along with ETCS Level 2 signalling (including automatic train operation), telecommunications systems, and electrification equipment.
The Velaro Novo is no ordinary train. Siemens claims it consumes around 30% less energy than previous models, while its wider carbody allows for increased passenger capacity. It's also designed to handle steep gradients and varied terrain—a useful feature given Vietnam's geography, which ranges from the flat Red River Delta to the mountainous north.
"We are proud that the global frontrunner VinSpeed has selected Siemens Mobility to deliver Vietnam's first high-speed rail lines," said Michael Peter, CEO of Siemens Mobility, in a statement last February. "This confidence in our turnkey expertise and technology underscores Siemens' position as the partner of choice for ambitious mobility projects worldwide."
A crash course in railway construction
Vietnam's lack of experience in building modern electric railways is no secret. The country's existing rail network is metre-gauge and largely unelectrified, a relic of French colonial rule. But Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have both managed to put metro systems into operation in recent years—the southern metro with Japanese assistance, the northern one with Chinese help.
The new high-speed line will be double-track, standard gauge (1,435mm), and fully electrified. It's being implemented under a public-private partnership (PPP) model with an estimated total investment of approximately 147.37 trillion VND (about $5.8 billion USD). Land clearance costs, which are being covered by the state budget, add another 10.27 trillion VND to the total.
According to an older report from the Italian news agency Agenzia Nova, compensation for expropriations along the route will amount to 12.8 billion VND—equivalent to just over €400,000. That figure seems low for a project of this scale, suggesting it may refer to a specific section rather than the entire line.
The project is expected to be completed and put into operation in 2028. Yes, you read that right—2028. That's an ambitious two-year construction timeline for a 120 km high-speed railway, and it will be interesting to see whether Vinspeed can deliver on that promise.
Then there were two: Vingroup's retreat from the North‑South mega‑project
Just when things were looking straightforward, a major plot twist emerged. At the end of December 2025, Vingroup—the parent company of Vinspeed—announced it was withdrawing its investment proposal for Vietnam's planned North‑South high-speed railway, a massive $67 billion project that would connect Hanoi in the north with Ho Chi Minh City in the south.
The decision came just days after Vinspeed had announced its collaboration with Siemens on the two smaller high-speed rail projects (the Hanoi–Quang Ninh line and a second line in the south, the Ben Thanh–Can Gio route). Vingroup stated that it was withdrawing to focus its capital and resources on the strategic infrastructure projects already assigned to it.
The withdrawal sent shockwaves through the market. Vingroup's founder and Vietnam's richest man, Pham Nhat Vuong, reportedly saw his net worth drop by $19 billion in a single day.
But don't write off the North‑South dream just yet. The government has since taken matters into its own hands. In early April 2026, it issued Resolution No. 98, splitting the North‑South mega-project into 17 independent components to accelerate land clearance and construction. The total investment is estimated at 1,713.54 trillion VND ($67.34 billion USD), and the project is expected to be carried out between 2025 and 2035, with basic completion targeted for 2035. Many localities have already acquired land and cleared sites, preparing for a groundbreaking in December 2026.
The big picture: why this matters
The YouTube channel The B1M recently released a video outlining the scale of Vietnam's high-speed rail ambitions. While the two smaller Vinspeed projects aren't included in the video, it provides a fascinating glimpse into what Vietnam is trying to achieve: a complete high-speed system that would put the country on a par with neighbours Japan, South Korea and China.
The Hanoi–Quang Ninh line is just the beginning. If successful, it will provide Vietnam with the experience and expertise needed to tackle the much larger North‑South project. And that project, if and when it happens, would be transformative: reducing the current 30‑hour rail journey between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to just five hours.
For now, all eyes will be on Quang Ninh province this Sunday, where the first shovel will go into the ground. It's a moment that's been a long time coming—and for a country that has watched its neighbours race ahead in high-speed rail, it's about time.