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Hanoi beyond Hoan Kiem – how the metro will open up the city outside the old quarter

September 16, 2020 By James Clark Leave a Comment

Hanoi beyond Hoan Kiem - how the metro will open up the city outside the old quarter

Hanoi is a city of over 8 million people that is composed of 12 urban districts, 1 district-level town, and 17 rural districts. Most visitors – including myself – stay in the old quarter in Hoan Kiem district, and visit Ba Dinh District (the political and cultural heart of Vietnam). With the Hanoi Metro system being built, visitors in the future will have more options beyond these two core districts.

I’ve visited Hanoi numerous times, yet whenever I go I seem to be trapped inside the old quarter. Not that there’s anything wrong with that as it’s a fascinating place to wander around. I usually visit Hanoi on the way to somewhere else, so by the time I’ve revisited my favourite cafes and street food stands it’s time to move on.

Hanoi Old City

On my most recent trip to Hanoi I made a report on the state of the metro. This gave me a chance to see what Hanoi is like outside the old quarter.

Line 2A on Hoang Cau

There are two lines under construction, both of which are far behind schedule. Like Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi doesn’t have any form of metro system (though they both once had trams). I have been following the progress of the Hanoi Metro to see how it compares to the HCMC Metro.

The metro in Ho Chi Minh City should have been finished by now if it had gone to schedule. It’s now years overdue, but property developers have not been resting during this time. There are new apartment towers near the future stations, and vibrant neighbourhoods such as Thao Dien have formed in anticipation of the Thao Dien metro station.

The Hanoi metro will also have a transformative effect on districts outside of the old city, just as the BTS in Bangkok has transformed neighbourhoods near each station. Maybe in 10 years time there will be the equivalent of an Ari or Thonglor in Hanoi. These two neighbourhoods in Bangkok have been transformed by their proximity to the skytrain, and for travellers they are popular places for Airbnb rentals.

To get a feel for what is happening I went walking along the lines under construction, as well as the route of one of the future lines. Here is a map of the proposed lines provided by Hanoi Metro. To view a larger version, click here.

#Metro map of #Hanoi in 2030, vision to 2050 #Vietnam pic.twitter.com/D2ETNRD7v6

— Hanoi Metro (@HanoiMetro) January 4, 2018

And for reference I’ve mapped the places mentioned in this post.


[Map of future Hanoi metro stations.]

Starting with a line that isn’t under construction yet, I walked though some of the areas where Line 2 will go. Line 2 will be of most use for visitors as it will be a direct line from the airport to the old quarter. Construction of this line has been delayed for over a decade, with some of the delay being due to how to route the line under the old city. It appears that some of the major issues regarding the route in the old quarter have been resolved, so this might be the next line to start construction.

From the old quarter the line will go south to Hai Ba Trung district. I’ve been to Hanoi maybe 10 times and somehow I’ve never been here. Starting my walk from the main train station I found the Hanoi Central Circus. I love the modernist architecture, though it appears to be one of those old-school animal circuses.

Hanoi Central Circus

From here I visited Union Park, which I can’t believe I’ve never visited before. The park has a big lake and lots of tree-lined walking paths. To the south of the park will be a station for the Line 2 metro. This is already a desirable area, so having such a useful metro line will make it one of the top places to live.

Union Park lake

Continuing my walk around where Line 2 would go I ended up at the new Vincom Center in Dong Da district. Somewhere around here will be the Chua Boc station.

Vincom Center

From here I left the path of Line 2 and headed towards Thai Ha station on the under-construction Line 2A. The station is near Thai Ha street, which could become a shopping hotspot in the future.

Thai Ha

As there is no other metro in Vietnam I keep referring to the experience of Bangkok, which I have watched transform over the years. On Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok the small buildings near the stations have been gradually demolished to make way for apartment towers. Looking at these small buildings near Thai Ha station I wonder what this section will look like in 10 years.

Thai Ha station Line 2A

The next station up is La Thanh. The buildings around the station are a jumble of old buildings with a streetscape that needs to be refurbished.

Under La Thanh Station

I had already reached my coffee limit for the day by the time I got to La Thanh, otherwise I would have gone to Twitterbeans Coffee for the name alone.

Twitterbeans Coffee

Line 2A terminates at Cat Linh, where it will junction with Line 3. The Pullman Hotel is on this corner, and once the construction mess has been cleared it will be interesting to see how this corner evolves.

Cat Linh Metro work

I did a separate walk for Line 3 by getting a Grab bike to Chua Ha Station and walking back to Hanoi Station from there. Developers have already built out the area around this station.

Chua Ha station

The intersection at Cau Giay Station is nothing like you see in the old city. This is next to the Hanoi Zoo.

Cau Giay intersection

Walking between Cau Giay Station and Kim Ma Station I found a Japantown/Little Tokyo.

Tomibun - Japantown

I stopped for a latte at Define – a Japanese specialty coffee cafe.

Define specialty coffee

The area around Kim Ma Station is where you can see modern Hanoi taking shape. Here is the 267-metre tall Lotte Center Hanoi .

Lotte Dao Tan

Continuing my walk between Kim Ma Station and Cat Linh Station I could see a glimmering building that was catching the afternoon light. The was the newly-opened Dolce Gold Hotel. The Dolce By Wyndham Hanoi Golden Lake is the world’s first gold-plated hotel. Not something I would have thought would be a first in Hanoi.

Dolce Gold Hotel

Near the gold hotel is the site of the half-finished Westin Hotel.

Abandoned Westin site

The station areas I visited on this trip are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the eventual metro network. I don’t know Hanoi well enough to be able to predict which area will rise as a result of the metro. Going by other cities experiences it will happen.

Readers who are familiar with Hanoi and its neighbourhoods might be wondering where is Tay Ho (West Lake) in this report. This area is a popular expat neighbourhood which could be referred to as “the Thao Dien of Hanoi” (or they might say Thao Dien is “the West Lake of Saigon”). Unfortunately for Tay Hoans there is no plan to put a metro along the east side of West lake.

I love visiting Hanoi, so hopefully I can record how the city changes over the years as the metro system expands.

Filed Under: Travel Blog Tagged With: hanoi, metro, vietnam

About James Clark

James Clark is the founder of Nomadic Notes. He has been a digital nomad since 2003, and Nomadic Notes features trip reports, train travel articles, and where to stay guides. He writes about transport and urban development at Future Southeast Asia. Subscribe to the weekly travel newsletter.

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James Clark from Nomadic Notes

Hi, I’m James Clark, and I've been travelling the world since 2003 while running a location independent travel business. Nomadic Notes is a travel blog featuring travel guides and notes from my travels.

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